THE ETHICIST: HERBAL MEDICINE

I have H.I.V. 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 H.I.V. or are undergoing
chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our lives come
first. Are we not being ethical? -- Anonymous, Virginia

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, "O.K.,
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.

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

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. His insolence you could vividly describe,
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.

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