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JUST SAY NO

Monday's U.S.  Supreme Court ruling outlawing medicinal use of marijuana is little more than a puff of smoke in Alabama, where marijuana is illegal, period.  Can't grow it, can't sell it, can't possess it, can't smoke it, can't eat it - even if your physician would prescribe it. 

There are endless arguments - pro and con - about medicinal use of marijuana.  There are doctors who prescribe it to patients with chronic pain or glaucoma, and those who use it often say it works better than any other therapy.  There are those who argue that marijuana is an unregulated street drug whose primary use is abuse.  Others will argue that many prescription medications with legitimate uses can be abused.  For instance, Oxycontin, a time-released painkiller, hooked many abusers who would crush the capsules to deliver a full dose at once.  And let's not forget that the idiots who cook up methamphetamine have forced the regulation of common cold medicine. 

What makes this week's ruling important - and dangerous - is not that it addresses a controversial subject, but that it interferes with states' rights: 10 states that have legalized medicinal use of marijuana will now be out of sync with federal law. 

Instead of ruling on this matter, the high court should have taken a page from Nancy Reagan and just said no.