Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2005
Source: Washington Examiner (DC)
Copyright: 2005 Washington Examiner
Contact:  http://www.dcexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3788
Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

CONGRESS SHOULD AMEND DRUG LAWS

Last Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows federal
prosecutors to go after sick people who smoke marijuana for pain
relief is just the latest in an outrageous pattern of criminalizing
medicine that has dire, long-term consequences for every American.

As an Examiner editorial noted last month, prosecutors are already
targeting pain doctors who prescribe higher doses of legal medications
than federal bureaucrats think is wise, even if the doses fall within
the parameters of modern medical care. With government agents looking
over their shoulders, several top pain physicians told us, many
doctors are increasingly reluctant to prescribe enough medication to
patients suffering from chronic, intractable pain. Indeed, half of
those surveyed in a recent ABC News/USA Today/Stanford University
Medical Center poll said that current doses of prescription drugs do
not alleviate their pain.

According to Johns Hopkins neurosurgery professor James Campbell,
physicians "simply don't know where the line is between a legal dose
and a prescription that will land them in jail." Some desperate
patients have turned to marijuana and other out-of-the-mainstream
remedies for relief. They deserve compassion, not incarceration.

Even with the proverbial note from their doctor, patients who live in
one of the 10 states that protect medical marijuana users from arrest
(Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon,
Vermont and Washington) are now threatened with criminal charges if
they're caught with pot in their possession. Maryland's Darrell Putman
Compassionate Use Act of 2003 limits the fine to $100, but doesn't
protect sick people from being arrested or convicted for lighting up a
joint.

The failed Prohibition of the 1920s started with the best of
intentions: to protect people from heavy drinking that could ruin
their lives. Unfortunately, enforcement of Prohibition laws ruined
many lives - and didn't stop people from drinking. Our failed drug
prohibition is essentially doing the same thing, with equally dismal
results.

Although large majorities in the District of Columbia, Maryland and
Virginia support the limited use of marijuana for medicinal purposes,
past efforts to legalize pot under such limited conditions have
failed. Anti-drug groups applaud the latest ruling, pointing out that
marijuana is a dangerous drug with serious side-effects. True, but the
same can also be said about cancer, AIDS, Crohn's disease, multiple
sclerosis or any other painful disease whose sufferers sometimes turn
to pot as their last resort. They should have the right to make that
decision themselves.

Studies show higher increases in overall marijuana use in states that
have passed medical marijuana initiatives. The solution is to go after
the estimated 15 million people who smoke marijuana for recreation,
not the sick people these laws were intended to help.

Possession of marijuana remains illegal in all 50 states, and thanks
to the latest Supreme Court ruling, future efforts to allow it to be
used as a medicine will no doubt be found unconstitutional. Only
conservative Justices William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas, joined by
moderate Sandra Day O'Connor, were willing to put the comfort and
welfare of sick people ahead of any other considerations.

Angel McClary Raich, one of the plaintiffs in the case, lives in
California - the first state to pass a medical marijuana law in 1996.
She suffers from chronic wasting syndrome, scoliosis and an inoperable
brain tumor. Such maladies are hard, if not impossible, to fake. As if
this array of debilitating illnesses were not enough to endure, Raich
now has to fear agents of her own government in the wings, waiting to
pounce.

Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the misguided majority, noted
that Congress could amend federal law to allow the use of marijuana
for medicinal purposes only. That would be the decent and humanitarian
thing to do.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin