HIGH COURT POINTS THE WAY ON POT

Reclassifying Marijuana As a Schedule II Drug Is One Way to Bridge Gap
Between Out-Of-Touch Federal and State Laws

The Supreme Court's ruling on marijuana this week will cause
significant confusion in Oregon and other states that have defied
federal law and legalized the drug for medical use. However, the
court's opinion is surprisingly simple and pragmatic:

Growing, selling and smoking pot is still against federal law, the
justices said. But federal law, the justices repeatedly implied, is
more strict than necessary.

The court is right, and Congress should listen.

In a 6-3 ruling on Monday, the court upheld the power of federal
authorities to prosecute sick people who grow or use state-sanctioned
marijuana for medical reasons. The court rejected the arguments of two
ill California women who said they should be able to use locally
grown, noncommercial marijuana under their state's medical-marijuana
law without federal interference.

Sorry, the court said. Even if the pot is grown and used locally, it
still affects interstate supply and demand, and can therefore be
federally regulated.

If the justices had stopped there, the Bush administration and various
other marijuana opponents might feel deeply vindicated. But the court
also took pains to hint that marijuana may be improperly classified
under federal law. If marijuana were properly classified, the federal
government would no longer be so greatly at odds with states such as
Oregon and California -- or with public opinion on medical marijuana
in general.

Under federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance,
along with LSD and heroin. Schedule I drugs are considered more
dangerous than Schedule II drugs such as morphine and cocaine, or
Schedule III drugs such as Xanax. Schedule I drugs are thought to be
so ripe for abuse and so medically unworthy that they are considered
unsafe to use even in medically supervised treatment.

This classification fails the smell test. It defies common sense to
classify marijuana as more dangerous and addictive than morphine --
which is legally prescribed to treat pain but abused on the street
with far more serious consequences. This also contradicts research
that suggests marijuana can help control nausea among cancer patients.

The aging justices noted this research. "(D)espite a congressional
finding to the contrary, marijuana does have valid therapeutic
purposes," the court's majority opinion said.

Yesterday, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program was flooded with calls
from some of the roughly 10,400 people registered in the state's
medical-marijuana program. State officials say they won't issue any
new cards until the state Department of Justice reviews and interprets
the ruling.

It would've been easier for Oregon if the court's majority had sided
with dissenting Justices William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Sandra
Day O'Connor. These justices believe in states' rights and find it
unnecessary for federal authorities to care about every lonely weed in
every home.

Instead, the court deferred to Congress. Congress and the Bush
administration should show the same deference by finding less
political and more defensible ways to study, evaluate and regulate
marijuana.