HAZY THINKING ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

To those with family members who rely on medical marijuana to relieve
chronic pain, the federal government's crusade against the use of the
drug is an outrage.

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 78 percent of Americans support
allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. Yet only one of the
three major presidential candidates, Sen. Barack Obama, is calling for
needed change in federal policy by stopping federal raids in the 12
states that have passed laws legalizing medicinal use of marijuana.

In my 20s, I had expected my generation to understand the futility of
Big Government drug laws. Au contraire -- now in power, my generation
imposes prohibitions on people who are seriously ill and in pain.

Bill Clinton's administration went after doctors who recommended
marijuana. Under George W. Bush, federal authorities have raided
medical marijuana suppliers.

As The Chronicle's Bob Egelko reported recently, Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton has spoken out against Drug Enforcement Administration raids
on medical marijuana clubs. But last month in an interview with the
Willamette Week in Oregon, Clinton would not say whether she would
stop the raids, only that medical-marijuana raids "would not be a high
priority."

Sen. John McCain opposes medical marijuana use. But on the campaign
trail last year, he said that medical marijuana was an issue for
states to decide and he pledged to do "everything in my power" to keep
a seriously ill patient who used medicinal marijuana from being arrested.

"I gotta say, I'm not sure what happened to the Straight Talk Express
on this one," quipped Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Bruce Mirken.

As a self-styled straight-talking maverick, McCain should rethink his
position on medical marijuana use. Of course, he is free to personally
oppose it, but as a conservative, he should support the right of
states to buck a heavy-handed federal mandate. As a human being, he
should respect the right of sick people, and their doctors, to avail
themselves of a drug that relieves nausea, pain and discomfort and
stimulates the appetite of cancer patients on chemotherapy.

McCain spokesperson Crystal Benton cited the American Medical
Association's recommendation that marijuana remain a Schedule I drug
- -- with "no accepted medical use" under the Controlled Substances Act
- -- until and unless studies, heretofore essentially barred by
Washington politicians, establish medical uses. Be it noted, the AMA,
like other medical groups, advocates more research on marijuana's
potential treatments.

The American College of Physicians also wants more research. In the
meantime, the group has called for reclassification of marijuana,
"given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana's safety and
efficacy in some clinical conditions." That is, let doctors and
patients -- not government -- decide what works for them.

Obama's position is not as clear as some advocates might prefer.
Spokesman Ben LaBolt noted that Obama supports having the Food and
Drug Administration regulate marijuana for medical use -- a bad idea
and a surefire way to bureaucratize and corporatize what has been a
grassroots enterprise.

What about real and dangerous abuses, such as dealers who are running
criminal enterprises disguised as cannabis dispensaries? LaBolt
answered that Obama "believes that states and local governments are
best positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these
policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that
doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief."

As for McCain, he would do well to heed the words of economist and
conservative icon Milton Friedman, who before his death told Forbes,
"There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana." And: "It's
absolutely disgraceful to think of picking up a 22-year-old for smoking
pot. More disgraceful is the denial of marijuana for medical purposes."

Debra J. Saunders is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle,