Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jan 2007
Source: Florence Morning News, The (SC)
Copyright: 2007 Media General, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.morningnewsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1525
Author: Jim Newman, Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

BILL WOULD OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A new bill proposed this week by a South Carolina senator would 
legalize the use of marijuana for medical applications.

Sen. William Mescher, R-Pinopolis, introduced the legislation 
Tuesday, which has since been referred to the Senate's Committee on 
Medical Affairs.

Mescher said his reasoning behind the controversial concept stems 
from the death of his first wife about 24 years ago from lung cancer.

He said he recalled doctors at the time telling him some of her 
symptoms could have been eased with the use of medical marijuana, 
which has the effect of easing the nausea associated with cancer 
treatments such as chemotherapy.

"There were concerns that she would become addicted," he said. "Here 
this woman had maybe two or three months to live -- and in extreme 
pain. It didn't make any difference if she became addicted."

Mescher said he felt further compelled to introduce the bill upon 
hearing recently from a friend who's facing a similar dilemma.

"It took me 10 years to get tattooing regulated in South Carolina," 
Mescher said. "I've got a bulldog tenacity."

But Dr. Rajesh Bajaj, an oncologist with Carolina Health Care in 
Florence, said he doubts the overall effectiveness of marijuana in 
treating cancer-related nausea.

"In my opinion, it's the rare patient who would be needing marijuana 
for nausea," he said. "I don't think many physicians would prescribe 
it because of the variety of medications that are available to treat 
nausea in patients with cancer."

Bajaj said that one of those medications in particular, called 
Marinol, contains the active ingredient found in marijuana and comes 
in tablet form. Using marijuana in its pure form, however, is not 
recommended, he said.

"Society has to weigh whether it wants to legalize a substance for 
the benefit of the rare patient or control it for everybody else," he said.

Mescher said he feels some patients could benefit from the 
alternative despite this outlook.

"To me, it's no different than morphine or any other painkiller that 
a doctor can prescribe," he said. "Some doctors say it doesn't help. 
But if the person thinks it's helping them, then it's helping them."

This isn't Mescher's first time at bat while defending a hot issue at 
the Statehouse in Columbia. For about a decade, he pushed for 
legalizing tattooing in South Carolina so it could be regulated in 
the interest of protecting public health.

He said he expects this new measure will become a highly contested 
matter, as well, but he plans to move forward with it just as he did 
with the controversial tattoo bill. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake