MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE

Two years ago, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, was
one of the few state leaders calling for New York to adopt a humane
medicinal marijuana law. George Pataki, who was governor at the time,
was opposed, perhaps because he was seeking to burnish his
tough-on-crime credentials as a possible 2008 Republican presidential
nominee. Eliot Spitzer, who was attorney general in 2005, and the
state's chief prosecutor, was also opposed. The measure went nowhere.

But now Mr. Spitzer is governor and he says he has had a change of
heart on medicinal marijuana. Before, he says, he was thinking like a
prosecutor. Now, as governor, he says, he has come to recognize the
beneficial effects that marijuana can have for chronically ill people
and he is prepared to sign a medical marijuana law that is "properly
structured."

The Legislature should send him one. The palliative benefits of
marijuana are well documented. For many cancer patients, marijuana is
the only substance that helps ease the nausea that accompanies
chemotherapy. Other victims of chronic illnesses also cite the relief
that marijuana can bring, including the television talk show host
Montel Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Ideally, Congress would pass a federal law allowing doctors to
prescribe marijuana, but the lawmakers have not shown the political
courage to do so. As a result, more and more states are taking the initiative.

Allowing the use of marijuana under a doctor's supervision is no
different than a patient being prescribed morphine or other pain
killers. The argument of opponents -- namely, that marijuana is a
gateway drug and legalization for medical purposes would lead to
rampant abuse -- has never had any merit. The issue has always been
about pain, and how to ease it. The sooner Gov. Spitzer signs a law
structured to that effect, the better.