LET'S LEGALIZE MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES

Larry McKeon, an Illinois representative, is urging lawmakers to
legalize marijuana for medical purposes. McKeon has the virus that
causes AIDS. He's joined other legislators in sponsoring a bill
designed to help patients afflicted with debilitating illnesses cope
with their pain.

The bill, HB4868, calls for the issuance of state registration cards
to those diagnosed with maladies such as AIDS, glaucoma and cancer.
The card allows for the legal possession of up to six cannabis plants
and one ounce of marijuana.

The subject of legalizing pot for medicinal purposes may be a hot
potato for politicians, but this bill seems like a no-brainer. At
least 30 states have laws recognizing the medicinal value of
marijuana. Nine states, with laws similar to McKeon's bill, allow the
medical use of marijuana with a doctor's authorization and
state-issued ID card.

I thought marijuana would be legal by now. Twenty-five years ago, the
stuff was everywhere. People were rarely arrested for small
quantities. That started after President Ronald Reagan's "war" on drugs.

Marijuana seemed acceptable in the late 1970s and early '80s. Maybe
that explains the popularity of "Saturday Night Fever," Cheech &
Chong, platform shoes, polyester suits, KC & the Sunshine Band and ...
(gulp) ... disco.

I'm no politician, so it's probably safe to admit that I (unlike
Clinton) inhaled. But I soon realized I could do better things with my
brain and my time than count pulp pods in an orange. Then there was
that forgetfulness that came with smoking grass.

My fellow potheads and I had long, intellectual conversations, but
I'll be darned if I can recall what they were about. I vaguely
remember telling some nerdy, four-eyed kid my idea of creating
personal computers for every home. I think his first name was Bill.

We were so goofy. Most of us smoked marijuana because it was hip and
cool. We had no idea the stuff could actually help people. But
scientists have proved that marijuana offers relief from pain and
nausea related to a number of maladies. After that discovery, one
would think it would have been decriminalized by now.

Opponents argue there's no need to legalize marijuana because legal
drugs exist for suffering patients. Of course, I imagine this is
mainly the argument of pharmaceutical giants. The idea of medicine
grown by the patient is preposterous to those guys. "Real medicine" is
processed, marketed with a catchy jingle and reaps huge profits.

A 1999 study conducted by the National Sciences Institute of Medicine
acknowledged other drugs work more effectively than marijuana. But
Bruce Mirken, the spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a
Washington-based lobbying organization, said those drugs aren't for
all patients.

"Some drugs are pretty effective, but they're also pretty nasty,"
Mirken told me.

"Many of these people are dealing with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
A pill won't do them any good."

The study also stressed that patients respond differently to different
drugs. The bill McKeon co-sponsored makes sense because it allows
doctors to decide if a patient should use marijuana or prescription
drugs.

Those against decriminalizing cannabis fear others may benefit from
the patient's legal right to puff. Therefore agonized individuals must
break the law for pain relief. Mirken believes that in itself is a
crime.

"No one should be subjected to arrest or possible jail time for simply
trying to relieve the suffering caused by cancer."

According to a 1998 Northern Illinois University poll, 67 percent of
the respondents favored patients being prescribed small amounts of
marijuana by their doctors. Mirken said other national polls show the
majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for medicinal usage.

McKeon's bill seems to offer a common-sense approach to a complicated
problem. At best, its passage will offer legal relief for millions of
chronically ill people. At worst, the return of disco.