GIVING CANNABIS TO HIV PATIENTS ILLEGAL BUT NOT UNETHICAL

Q: I have HIV and use cannabis to alleviate nausea and lack of
appetite. A friend grows and provides it at no cost. I distribute the
remaining cannabis to 15 or so other people who either have HIV or are
undergoing chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our
lives come first. Are we not being ethical? - Anonymous, Virginia

A: I'm with you: What you are doing is illegal but not unethical.
Society acknowledges a moral right to break the law in extreme
circumstances each time a sitcom cop pulls over some hapless guy for
speeding and asks, "OK, buddy, where's the fire?"

The implication: If the driver really is racing to extinguish a blaze,
exceeding the speed limit is acceptable. Similarly, medical necessity
can trump marijuana laws.

While there are sound arguments for law-abiding behavior even when a
law is ludicrous, in this situation you harm no one while relieving
the suffering of the gravely ill who have no alternative remedy -
compelling reasons to violate the law.

And you needn't worry that you are implicated in the occasional
gunplay of the marijuana trade; that violence is a consequence of
prohibition, not pharmacology, and, in any case, one would expect the
not-for-profit, grow-your-own network of medical cannabis suppliers to
be insulated from the excesses of the commercial trade.

A recent Supreme Court decision confirms marijuana's classification
under federal law as an illegal Schedule I drug with "no currently
accepted medical use."

Although the ruling does not overturn state statutes - eight states
have passed medical marijuana initiatives - it contradicts what many
patients and doctors (including the California Medical Association)
believe. Thus, for you to provide cannabis to the seriously ill is not
just an act of compassion but also an assertion of truth, albeit not
one a Federal Drug Enforcement agent would find persuasive.

Q: A professor of sociology, I am editing an anthology with a
colleague. I accepted, pending revisions, an essay from a young man
who phoned to tell me how groundbreaking my own work was and in
general to stroke my ego. I've since discovered that he reviewed a
book of mine, calling it just plain bad.

It seems dishonest of him to suck up to me while simultaneously
destroying my book. May I cut his essay from the anthology, or should
I refer the decision to my co-editor? - L.E., Brooklyn, N.Y.

A: Having tentatively accepted his essay, you ought not reject it
because the author is a deceiver who hurt your feelings.

If editors rejected the work of every ill-mannered writer, our nation
would face a serious literature shortage. (Not a problem for my
editor, of course.)

But once you've gone this far, you should take the high road and
recuse yourself, leaving it to your co-editor to determine the revised
essay's value or - with luck - lack thereof.

Were you starting anew, you'd have no obligation to accept this young
cad's work. A book is not a public accommodation: It is your project
and can be shaped by your personal preferences, however quirky - only
brilliant writers, only stylishly dressed writers who know their way
around a dance floor. But even then, your professional reputation
would best be served were you to consider only the scholarly qualities
of each essay, not the weaselly behavior of its writer.

You could vividly describe his insolence, if not in the notes on
contributors, then in your memoirs.

To revile you with one hand and suck up with the other (if that is
anatomically possible) would be discreditable, but the putative
hypocrite might see this differently.

He may well admire your work in general while seeing flaws in your
book. Such is the cut and thrust, the kick and kiss, of academic life.