POT SHOT

The Supreme Court might have been right on the law - and that always
must take paramount importance - but its correctness gives scant
comfort to the many individuals enduring the ravages of cancer and
AIDS. Congress sees no medical benefit in the use of marijuana to
alleviate suffering, or at least such is the position it takes for
public consumption, and it is not the Court's job to overrule the
legislative branch on policy matters.

Some patients and some doctors, on the other hand, say the use of
marijuana does help combat the side-effects of chemotherapy and reduce
the discomfort associated with the wasting suffered by those with
AIDS. They also say it is far more effective than synthetic THC
products such as Marinol.

But research on the matter has been considerably hindered by the fact
that the federal government is the only body permitted to dispense pot
for clinical trials, and the federal government almost never does so.
Yet hospitals routinely dispense far more powerful and addictive
controlled substances such as morphine; they even let patients dose
themselves. So the reluctance to release marijuana even for laboratory
study must be chalked up to the fervor of the nation's drug war.

The drug war constitutes a worthy cause meriting greater resources and
intensified effort. But the country will not win it by denying sick
pa-tients a substance that (for instance) could keep them from
vomiting uncontrollably - if serious research shows that it does. Is
there anyone in Congress with the fortitude to stand up and say you
don't win the drug war by denying drugs to those who need them?