SURPRISING POLL ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Alabama, as my boss loves to say, is a state of mind. I'll add: It is
one heck of a confounding state of mind.

We vote down a lottery, even though the data shows that we trek over
to Georgia, Florida and now Tennessee to play their lotteries.

In fact, during former Gov. Don Siegelman's big push to get a lottery,
the data from Georgia and Florida suggested that we bought more
tickets than anyone else - except for Georgians and Floridians.

We preach against the evils of gambling, yet according to some folks
in the transportation business the gambling casinos of Tunica, Miss.,
might be boarded up if we didn't make them one of our favorite
vacation spots.

These conflicts and contradictions led me to a poll of 417 Alabamians
from around the state, conducted by The Mobile Register and the
University of South Alabama and published in The Register on July 4.

Marijuana was the topic. You know - weed, grass, reefer, herb,
chronic, Mary Jane or, as it's been known in some circles, those funny
cigarettes.

According to the poll, more than 75 percent of us believe doctors
should be given the OK to prescribe it for medical uses.

No, not for when you're listening to Miles Davis, the Beatles or
Ludacris, or watching a Cheech and Chong DVD. And no, not for those
times when you are trying to get in the mood for you-know-what.

The Alabamians surveyed were clear about this.

But for those suffering with full-blown AIDS or the side effects of
chemotherapy, Alabamians have no problem with a doctor giving a
patient the go-ahead to do what former President Bill Clinton claimed
not to do - inhale.

Polls are not an exact science. Asking 417 people to represent the
views of 4.5 million Alabamians is asking a heck of a lot. Quite
frankly, they might have gotten it wrong.

But Loretta Nall doesn't think they did. Nall, a resident of Alexander
City, is the founder of the Alabama Marijuana Party and plans to run
for governor in 2006.

"The only person(s) I know who do not use marijuana are my mother and
my grandmother," she told me earlier this week.

She didn't include herself in this small group, even though she said
she hasn't smoked any weed since 2002. But I guess she didn't because
if she ever gets her legal issues resolved, she'll probably light up
again.

Nall said she was arrested in 2002 after the second of two government
searches of her home and two acres of land. The first was prompted by
comments her daughter allegedly made at school. Nall told me that the
investigators had no warrant and left when she promised to videotape
the search.

During the second search, investigators found rolling paper, scales
and a partially smoked marijuana cigarette. And this time, they had a
warrant. Nall said that her letter to the editor of The Birmingham
News, published on Nov. 7, 2002, prompted the search. All the letter
did, she said, was promote her political party.

"I was arrested for exercising my right to free speech," Nall said.

She was convicted in February of misdemeanor possession, but has
appealed.

Nall and her Alabama Marijuana Party aren't the only ones pushing for
marijuana to be decriminalized. So is Wayne Sowell, the Birmingham
Democrat opposing U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, in November.

I remember him from his 2002 campaign for the Democratic nomination
for the U.S. Senate against Susan Parker and Julian McPhillips, all of
whom wanted to run against Republican Jeff Sessions. Sowell got over
36,000 votes in that primary, forcing Parker and McPhillips into a
runoff.

Sowell endorsed Parker and she beat McPhillips. Arguably, he's the
most high-profile Alabamian to advocate openly the right to fire one
up.

I've never inhaled or lit up and don't have AIDS or cancer. I have no
vested interest in this debate.

But I am intrigued with the idea that in a state that has churches on
every corner, many of us apparently realize that marijuana, like
various narcotics and even alcohol (which is used liberally in some
cold medicines, for example) may occasionally serve a good purpose.
Nine other states, including Arizona and Colorado, have already
figured this out.

Now don't you old reefer-heads among us go pulling out your bongs and
copies of Dr. Dre's top-selling old-school rap CD "The Chronic." I'm
not saying it's time to party.

But maybe - to paraphrase the Apostle Paul - a little weed for the
body's sake under the right circumstances and for the right purpose is
OK.