WHAT'S THE COURT SMOKING?

America has a serious drug addiction. But the federal government will
not make a dent in that formidable problem by burying its head in the
sand and refusing to acknowledge that in some limited cases,
marijuana has legitimate medicinal benefits.

The evidence doesn't come from some fuzzy-headed band of pot smokers
in the mountains of California but from no less an authority than the
Institute of Medicine. In a 1999 report, the institute, an arm of the
National Academy of Sciences, reported that scientific research and
anecdotal evidence demonstrated that the active ingredient in
marijuana appeared useful in treating pain, nausea and other symptoms
associated with cancer and AIDS in some patients. What's more, the
institute found no evidence that making marijuana available to sick
patients by doctor's orders would increase its recreational use.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court recently took a decidedly
narrow and rigid view and dealt a serious setback to the continued
rational evaluation of marijuana for medical purposes. In a unanimous
ruling, the high court determined that federal law bars the
distribution of marijuana even to people who say they need it to
alleviate symptoms of their illness. Federal law, according to an
opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, "reflects a determination
that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception."

The ruling doesn't invalidate laws that permit medicinal use of
marijuana in nine states, but it could have a chilling effect on
other states even exploring such laws. It could also spell doom for
large public distribution centers of medicinal marijuana cigarettes,
making it more difficult for the sick to relieve their misery,
according to officials of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies
for medicinal marijuana laws.

While it's true, as opponents point out, that there are legal
alternatives to medical marijuana, including a synthetic form of the
active ingredient, evidence strongly suggests marijuana cigarettes
are more effective in some cases in relieving nausea, which is
associated with chemotherapy and wasting diseases, and neuromuscular
pain.

We are not advocating recreational use of marijuana. But the national
drug scourge has nothing to do with the medicinal use of this drug.
The medicinal use of marijuana has everything to do with relieving
suffering. The federal government should stop its political posturing
and wake up to that fact.