THE NEXT STEP FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Constitutionally, the U.S. Supreme Court was right in its unanimous
ruling upholding a federal law's prohibition of the use of marijuana
for medical purposes. The law enacted by Congress classified
marijuana among the most dangerous of illegal drugs, explicitly
stating that marijuana has no accepted medical use. It is not the
role of the court to undo a law in the absence of constitutional
justification.

But neither the Supreme Court nor the Congress are licensed to
practice medicine, and hundreds of physicians and their patients
would strenuously disagree on the effectiveness of marijuana in
treating a variety of ailments. The fact that the evidence in favor
is more anecdotal than peer-reviewed research has more to do with the
government's longtime resistance to research on marijuana's effects
than with the drug itself.

Other drugs far more dangerous than marijuana are available when
prescribed by a physician and dispensed by a pharmacist. But
marijuana has long been regulated in an atmosphere of anti-drug
hysteria and political timidity.

The eight states that have legalized its use for medical purposes
have mostly done so by popular referendum, not on the initiative of
elected legislators.

There is no process for a federal referendum, however, and Congress
has not given serious consideration to marijuana prohibition since
1970. Now that the Supreme Court has reiterated the supremacy of
federal law, the focus of those who wish to legalize the medical use
of marijuana must shift to Washington. That doesn't mean
Massachusetts and other states should ignore the issue; the vast
majority of drug arrests are prosecuted under state, not federal,
law. But as long as the threat of federal prosecution is present, the
efforts of physicians and patients to ease the suffering of the
seriously ill will be needlessly thwarted.

The conflict between state and federal law in this matter is not
intractable. A bill filed in Congress by Rep. Barney Frank, D-4th,
would change federal law to allow physicians to prescribe medical
marijuana if state law allows it. If Congress won't lead in reforming
the drug laws, it should at least get out of the way of the states.