UTAHNS CAMPAIGNING FOR MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

Petition Drive Gets Under Way On The Hill Wednesday

Morphine is a frequently prescribed medication to relieve pain. It's
also a drug that's used illegally for recreational purposes. The same
is true of cocaine. Though it's thought of more in terms of a war on
drugs, derivatives are used by dentists and doctors.

Now a group of Utahns is launching a campaign to have the medical
applications of cannabis (marijuana) legalized. They will kick off a
signature drive at the Capitol at 3 p.m. Wednesday to get the issue
put on the ballot.

"We want physicians to be allowed to prescribe it for those patients
for whom it's useful," said Ken Larsen, a biologist and medical
researcher who is chairman of the Utah Therapeutic Humane Cannabis
Committee. "We wonder how it's reasonable that more serious,
dangerous drugs are allowed use as medications. We hope this one-year
campaign will gather the necessary 76,000 signatures to put it on the
ballot."

The measure would protect doctors in prescribing cannabis as
treatment for certain medical conditions, protect the patient who has
a prescription from prosecution and protect the person who supplies
the product to someone with a valid prescription. Marijuana products,
in various forms, are reported to help people suffering from a
variety of illnesses, including glaucoma, Tourette's syndrome,
cancer, AIDS wasting syndrome, multiple sclerosis and other ailments.
Voters in seven states and the District of Columbia have approved
medical use of cannabis. And a variety of professional medical
associations, including the American Medical Association and the
American Public Health Association, have voiced support for allowing
doctors to prescribe cannabis.

Opponents say it's an effort to legalize marijuana. Committee vice
chairman Ben Valdez Jr. disagrees. "The message we should be sending
to children is that cannabis is a medicine and like all medicines, it
should be treated with respect and not abused."

Larsen said his own research convinced him that the substance could
relieve suffering. He studied tetrahydrocannabis with aspirin for
arthritis patients. They didn't have the serious stomach ailments
others get without the THC, he said. "A lot of prescription drugs are
irritating to the stomach or bowels and ought to have THC in them. It
protects the intestinal lining."

Larsen said the question hasn't been too controversial in Utah, where
he said people seem to accept that mind-altering drugs can be
"perfectly legitimate when used in medical applications." But he said
he hopes that not only supporters of the petition drive but those who
disagree will show up and discuss it on Wednesday.

Information about medicinal use of cannabis and the petition drive
are online at www.thc2002.org.