CLARITY ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Maybe it's time for everybody to take a deep breath and talk calmly
about medical use of marijuana.

The weed is illegal as a recreational drug everywhere (of course,
that hasn't necessarily deterred everyone), but it is legal as
medicine in 11 states, including Colorado. The discrepancy has
sparked years of running squabbles among police, prosecutors,
doctors, scientists, politicians, potheads and genuinely sick people
seeking genuine relief.

The U.S. Supreme Court lit a match to the issue in June 2005 when it
ruled that using marijuana is a federal crime, even if used as
medicine in states that allow it.

The Food and Drug Administration didn't help last April when it
issued a statement (just a statement, not the results of a study)
that "smoked marijuana has no currently accepted or proven medical
use." Patients use marijuana for nausea relief after chemotherapy,
pain and some effects of AIDS.

That statement, apparently issued to mollify some rock-ribbed drug
warriors in Congress, was at variance with a 1999 National Academy of
Sciences review that found marijuana "moderately well suited" for
treating some conditions.

The confusion has created a mess.

A local woman recently had to go the Denver police to recover
marijuana confiscated during a traffic stop, even though she has
medical approval to use the drug.

In California, patients' rights groups and politicians are fighting
over a lawsuit that seeks to overturn that state's medical marijuana law.

In South Dakota, they've battling over the ballot description of a
proposed medical marijuana initiative.

Maybe it's time to calm down.

Drug warriors should shake off their "reefer madness" mentality and
consider that marijuana may have medical benefits. Lots of otherwise
dangerous substances are part of wonderfully beneficial drugs.

The FDA needs to quit cowering before conservative lawmakers and do
science. Studies on marijuana's medical uses are underway, but more
work needs to be done.

And, however well-intentioned, medical marijuana advocates might want
to think about whether ballot measures really are the best way to
decide medical questions.