Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 Source: Asheville Citizen-Times (NC) Copyright: 2005 Asheville Citizen-Times Contact: http://www.citizen-times.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/863 Author: The Associated Press, and Clarke Morrison, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich ( Raich v. Gonzales) Top Court Ruling Unlikely to Lead to Legal Woes for Patients Who Use Pot LOCAL DOCTORS CONFUSED BY GOVERNMENT'S STANCE ON MARIJUANA WASHINGTON -- Anyone who lights up a joint for medicinal purposes isn't likely to be pursued by federal authorities, despite a Supreme Court ruling that these marijuana users could face federal charges, people on both sides of the issue say. In a 6-3 decision, the court Monday said those who smoke marijuana because their doctors recommend it to ease pain can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws, overriding medical marijuana statutes in 10 states. While the justices expressed sympathy for two seriously ill California women who brought the case, the majority agreed that federal agents may arrest even sick people who use the drug as well as the people who grow pot for them. Dr. Ronald Friedman, an Asheville oncologist and former board member of Mountain Area Hospice, said he strongly disagrees with the ruling. "I can't imagine why the federal government would be interested in prosecuting people for small amounts of medicinal marijuana," he said. "It clearly is beneficial to the right kind of patient. "There is no long-term danger to people who may have six months to live. For those selected patients, it's an alternative. I think most oncologists would agree with that." Friedman said he sometimes prescribes Marinol, a medication taken orally that contains the active ingredient found in marijuana, and he would prescribe the natural form of the drug if it were legal in North Carolina. Patients have told him that smoking marijuana helps relieve symptoms including nausea and pain, he said. "Sometimes it works when nothing else works," Friedman said. Dr. James Biddle, an Asheville internist, said he doesn't know if marijuana is a useful medicine because he has no experience with it. However, he said he doesn't understand why it is illegal. "It doesn't make sense to me that opiates like morphine are useful and they are legal to prescribe, but for some reason marijuana is not legal even as a controlled substance, even if there is evidence that it's useful," Biddle said. "It seems that they are biased against natural products of all kinds." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake