MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE HAS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

Don McGrath watched his 5-foot-11 son dwindle to 97 pounds because of
cancer that wracked his body and heavy doses of chemotherapy that
sapped his appetite.

"He couldn't eat and was wasting away," McGrath, a Washington Township
resident, said of his son, Sean, 28, who died in June after a two-year
battle with the disease.

"It was devastating to watch. The medicine they gave him to combat the
effects of the chemotherapy didn't work. The only thing that did work
was when he started smoking marijuana. That brought back his appetite
and gave him some comfort."

Now, McGrath wants to help other people suffering from cancer and
other painful terminal illnesses find the same kind of relief by
legalizing marijuana for medical use.

The cause has found support from an unlikely combination of New Jersey
lawmakers from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum - Assemblyman
Reed Gusciora, D-Princeton Borough, one of the Assembly's most liberal
members, and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris Township,
an ardent conservative.

The two have teamed up and are drafting a bill to make New Jersey the
10th state in the nation to decriminalize the medical use of
marijuana, even though federal laws still apply in those states.

"Where other pain medications leave off, medical marijuana can fill in
and provide relief," said Gusciora, who said he and Carroll plan to
introduce the bill in the fall.

"We're talking about people with terminal illness who deserve some
comfort before they pass away," he said. "We shouldn't make criminals
of people on their death beds."

Carroll agreed.

"If you can go to your doctor and get a derivative of the poppy to
treat pain, why can't you get a derivative of the cannabis plant to
treat your symptoms?" he said.

"There is no such thing as an evil plant," Carroll said. "If a doctor
using his or her best medical judgment thinks marijuana is the best
thing for the patient, he or she should be allowed to prescribe it.
Use it as medical science decides it should be used. We're not talking
about a Grateful Dead concert."

Other conservative lawmakers say they might be willing to support the
measure.

"Generally speaking, I don't believe we should be legalizing
marijuana, but if the controls are serious and strong and the uses are
limited, I could see myself voting yes," said Assemblyman Guy Gregg,
R-Washington Township, Morris County. "There's merit to the argument
that we should allow terminal patients comfort in their last days."

Gregg said he is concerned about how marijuana would be distributed if
it were made legal for medical purposes.

A spokeswoman for Gov. James E. McGreevey said the governor opposes
legalizing marijuana for medical use.

Even if New Jersey were to adopt the proposed Gusciora-Carroll bill,
federal law still prohibits growing, selling and using marijuana.

Carroll said he is not concerned about that. "What the states are
doing and what my goal is is a statement to the federal government to
go back and look at its policy because the current policy makes no
sense. It limits how doctors treat their patients," he said.

For Sean McGrath, the idea of using marijuana came from his doctors in
New York, said his father, who has joined the Coalition for Medical
Marijuana-New Jersey, a year-old group pressing for the legal use of
the drug for terminal patients, and is hosting a public forum on the
issue for the organization Saturday.

"He was in pain and not eating, and his doctors off-the-record
suggested the use of marijuana," said Don McGrath. "Sean never used
drugs so he had no idea how or where to get it, but he used his . . .
connections and was able to get it.

"He would have preferred to use a legal drug, but there was no
alternative," McGrath said. "He felt uncomfortable because it was
illegal, but he was more concerned about the college kids who were
delivering it to him. He didn't want them to get arrested."

Ken Wolski, a nurse for the state Department of Corrections, who
co-founded the Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey, said the
organization's goal is simple.

"We're trying to right the injustice of keeping medicine that prevents
suffering from sick and dying people. These people need it," he said.
"It's an issue that cuts across all political boundaries. It's not a
liberal or a conservative issue. It's a human rights issue."