HANDING POT TO HIV PATIENTS ILLEGAL BUT NOT UNETHICAL

Q: I have H.I.V. and use cannabis to alleviate nausea and lack of appetite.
A friend grows and provides it at no cost. I distribute the remaining
cannabis to 15 or so other people who either have H.I.V. or are undergoing
chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our lives come
first. Are we not being ethical?

- -- Anon, Virginia

A: I'm with you: What you are doing may be illegal but it's not unethical.
Society acknowledges a moral right to break the law in extreme
circumstances each time a sitcom cop pulls over some hapless guy for
speeding and asks, "okay, buddy, where's the fire?" The implication: If the
driver really is racing to extinguish a blaze, exceeding the speed limit is
acceptable. Similarly, medical necessity can trump marijuana laws. While
there are sound arguments for law-abiding behavior even when a law is
ludicrous, in this situation you harm no one while relieving the suffering
of the gravely ill who have no alternative remedy -- compelling reasons to
violate the law.

And you needn't worry that you are implicated in the occasional gunplay of
the marijuana trade; that violence is a consequence of prohibition, not
pharmacology, and in any case one would expect the not-for-profit,
grow-your-own network of medical cannabis suppliers to be insulated from
the excesses of the commercial trade.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision confirmed marijuana's classification
under federal law as an illegal Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted
medical use." Although the ruling does not overturn state statutes -- eight
states have passed medical marijuana initiatives -- it contradicts what
many patients and doctors believe. Thus, for you to provide cannabis to the
seriously ill is not just an act of compassion but also an assertion of
truth, albeit not one a drug enforcement agent would find persuasive.