MAN LAMENTS MARIJUANA RULING

LITCHFIELD - A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said the medical use of
marijuana is not legal - even in states with laws that say it is - has
dashed the hopes one New Hampshire man who relies on the drug.

Robert, who told his story to the Boston Sunday Globe but asked that his
last name not be used, had hoped a federal ruling would pave the way for
him to get easier access to the marijuana he says he needs.

But the high court last week ruled there was no proof that smoking
marijuana provided any medical benefits. Robert said he knows different.

Robert was diagnosed eight years ago with an inoperable brain tumor. At
the time, he did not smoke marijuana.

The tumor caused Robert repeated seizures. In 1995 and again in 1997, he
had surgery to remove much of the tumor, but that didn't stop the
seizures. The tumor also damaged his optic nerve, leaving him legally
blind.

Doctors prescribed him anti-seizure drugs, but they did not work. Then
last summer Robert underwent chemotherapy in another attempt to shrink
the tumor. He also was prescribed Marinol, which contains the active
ingredient in marijuana.

"I was delighted to discover that I was not having as many seizures," he
recently told a House committee considering a bill to legalize medical
marijuana in New Hampshire. The bill did not pass. "Rather than six or
more a day, I was having only six a week."

That sent Robert out to research the use of marijuana. He learned that
some doctors were using Marinol and marijuana to control seizures.

"And then one day when I was feeling severe pain and nausea, I had the
opportunity to take a few puffs from a marijuana cigarette, and
immediately the pain, fatigue and ill feeling lifted away," he said. "I
actually went outside and did yard work. I was so amazed."

Robert spoke to his doctors about smoking marijuana. They warned him
about possible dangers, but he continued anyway. He said the seizures
stopped, and the pain and illness from the chemotherapy were gone.

But marijuana is not legal, and that makes it a challenge for Robert to
get the drug.

"One of the reasons cited for the New Hampshire bill's failure was
because marijuana use was banned on a federal level," he said. "If the
federal case had passed, it would have been easier for us to get a law
passed here."

Several states, including Maine and California, have passed laws making
medical use of marijuana legal.

Robert said he tried growing the drug himself, but had no luck. And he
doesn't like buying it on the street.

"Sometimes a compassionate person just leaves it on my front door," he
said.

But Enfield police Chief John Giese, who spoke against the New Hampshire
bill on behalf of the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police, said people
pushing for medical legalization often want it approved for general use,
too.

"We call them legalizers," he said. "Listen, you've got the American
Cancer Society and the American Medical Association all saying that
marijuana is not useful as a medicine...

"I say the real answer here is to put this before the Federal Drug
Administration ," he said. "Let them decide."