The Moral High Ground

STATE SHOULD ALLOW MEDICINAL MARIJUANA USE

The fight to reverse Michigan's ban on medicinal marijuana is
understandable given that the drug has been used as such for
thousands of years. Eleven states have already legalized its use for
the treatment of serious medical conditions - and with good reason.

It is widely accepted that marijuana may prevent blindness in
glaucoma patients and can ease appetite loss among patients suffering
from AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy. It is also a cheap, safe and
risk-free painkiller. The state and federal governments need to
recognize what many already do - medicinal marijuana can be a
legitimate alternative to more addictive and risky drugs.

It is disappointing that a recent bill proposing to legalize the use
of marijuana in Michigan by those with debilitating medical
conditions failed in a state House committee. Despite its lack of
mainstream acceptance, there is no reason to criminalize marijuana
use for chronically ill patients seeking pain. How can the state
government callously deny it to elderly cancer patients? How can the
state deny patients a drug that can lessen the effects of
chemotherapy and diminish the violent nausea that some pills can
induce? Marijuana is hardly different from the vast number of legally
prescribed drugs, like morphine and Vicodin, that are routinely
abused. It is time for our state government to look past the stigma
surrounding marijuana and recognize its possibilities.

The Food and Drug Administration argues that there is no sound
evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of medicinal
marijuana. But the lack of scientific studies is the fault of strict
federal guidelines that force researchers to jump through years of
hurdles to obtain a small amount of marijuana from the one legal
marijuana farm in the country for research. And it's not even good
marijuana - a 2005 New York Times guest editorial piece described it
as "notoriously weak and poorly manicured."

It is no surprise that conducting research is so hard. A victory for
medicinal marijuana would look like a loss for the federal
government's misguided war on drugs. And more important, it would
deal a blow to the pharmaceutical companies that are no doubt
pressuring the federal and state governments against legalization.
But don't be misled. These drug companies aren't taking the moral
high ground; they're responding to a real fear that if medicinal
marijuana is legalized, their profit margins could fall as patiens
and doctors flock to the cheaper and safer alternative.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Congress can supersede
state governments to enforce the federal ban on marijuana. However,
legalizing medicinal marijuana on the state level will undoubtedly
lower the priority placed on medicinal marijuana by local law
enforcement and legitimize its use as a medical treatment for the
sick. In addition, as more states legalize the medicinal use of
marijuana, the federal government would be forced to review its
position - and maybe even more generally its costly and
counterproductive war on drugs. Come January, the state Legislature
should re-examine this issue and lift the ban.