REEFER MADNESS

Monday's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court against medical marijuana was,
to put it mildly, a major bummer. While the immediate effect may be that
a handful of buyers' clubs will be forced to close their doors, the
lasting impact will be on the many people who use medical marijuana to
alleviate the pain and suffering caused by powerful chemotherapy, AIDS
wasting, or side effects of various medical regimens; essentially, they
will be forced to become criminals because their own government refuses
to even hold open the possibility that marijuana has medical benefits.

Whether patients will be prosecuted by the feds is an open question --
it seems unlikely that prosecutors will wage what would certainly be a
public relations disaster by charging and trying sick, frail patients
whose only "crime" is to smoke a little herb so that they can keep their
food down -- it nonetheless points to the government's heavy-handedness
and its absolute refusal to accept the growing reality that medical
marijuana can be beneficial. We've been covering the medical marijuana
issue for years, and have heard countless anecdotal stories from people
who have been helped by this natural medicine. Some scientific studies
have also been done or are being undertaken, though the government's
reluctance to commit to further studies reveals its deep-seated and
misguided belief that marijuana remains on the front-line in the failed
"war on drugs." Legalizing medical marijuana, after all, would point to
its relative harmlessness and would undercut decades of propaganda by
the government that the herb is addictive or will lead to people using
other drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.

The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government are
convinced that marijuana remains a dangerous, "gateway" drug. It seems
that the scenes from Reefer Madness are taken at face value by politicos
and judges, when clearly more study is needed. Officials have got to
stop believing some hysterical 1936 movie whose aim was to scare parents
and young people alike with a campy, over-the-top depiction of people
going "crazy" over the reefer. It's just not like that.

The court's narrow ruling seems to go after distributors of medical
marijuana -- buyers' clubs, for instance -- rather than users. But
there's a problem: It is illogical that the court would tell sick people
that it's okay to smoke medical marijuana, yet deny them a way to obtain
the medicine.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court relied on the woefully outdated
Controlled Substances Act, which has marijuana classified as a Schedule
I drug. Given the high court's ruling, it is time for Congress to move
ahead with a bill sponsored by Representative Barney Frank
(D-Massachusetts) that would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug,
thus easing restrictions on research and medical use, as well as
lowering penalties for violations of the law. Given the current
political climate, however, Frank's bill faces a tough (and probably
unwinnable) battle.

Research has already shown that marijuana's active ingredient, THC,
kills pain to the central nervous system in much the same way that
opiates do, without the nausea and other unwanted side effects. More
studies are clearly needed to determine marijuana's effectiveness for
AIDS patients and others. Such a study has gotten under way in San Mateo
County, and Monday's ruling will not stop it.

Science -- not politics -- needs to prevail when it comes to helping
sick and dying patients. Medical marijuana has a place in treatment for
some, and the Supreme Court's ruling doesn't change that.