FEAR AND PAIN, AGAIN

We ran a letter on this page on Tuesday from a cancer patient who had
taken part in an experimental high-dose chemotherapy trial. He wrote
to tell us that smoking marijuana had provided him with relief from
the terrible nausea and sleeplessness brought on by his chemotherapy.
These were symptoms that he found Prozac and sleeping pills did not
alleviate, and that, according to others in the high-dose trial, the
drug Marinol, a synthetic form of THC (marijuana's active
ingredient), wouldn't either.

The legal use of marijuana for legitimate medical purposes is again
being raised in Annapolis. Like last year and the year before, the
bill will be introduced by Republican Delegate Donald Murphy of
Baltimore County. Local supporters of the legislation include
Republican Delegates Louise Snodgrass and David Brinkley, and
Democratic Delegate Sue Hecht. Both our state senators, Republicans
Alex Mooney and Tim Ferguson, remain against the legislation. As
these supporters and opponents indicate, this issue cuts across party
lines.

Part of the opposition to this legislation involves how the marijuana
for such use would be grown, regulated, controlled and distributed.
Those are legitimate concerns, but they are not insurmountable ones.
In last year's battle, the legislation was defeated partly because it
contained provisions for patients and caregivers to grow and supply
their own marijuana. We understood the concerns some lawmakers and
voters had with this provision, and, frankly, thought it was ill-
advised - practically and politically.

If a sound method of producing, distributing and accounting for
marijuana for those who truly need it, such as cancer, AIDS, MS and
glaucoma patients, can be devised, the drug should be available to
them.

As we said last year, we understand the concern over this
legislation. Marijuana is as controversial a subject as abortion,
religion in schools, gun control and the death penalty. Its
decriminalization and legalization have been subjects of debate for
decades; its use is associated in many people's minds, including a
sizeable percentage of the medical community, with physical,
emotional and mental problems - and with the general subject of drug
abuse in our society.

And as we also said during the 2001 General Assembly session, we are
absolutely not advocating the general legalization of marijuana.
However, we accept as true the thousands of testimonials from cancer,
AIDS and other seriously ill patients that, unlike opiates, marijuana
provided needed relief without turning them into zombies.

It should be available - strictly controlled and distributed - to
those sufferers who qualify for and want it. These already
unfortunate, desperate people don't deserve to endure needless pain
and wasting away, have their personalities and their ability to
interact with others destroyed by opiates, or become lawbreakers
trying to find a little relief from their suffering.