MARIJUANA RESEARCH PROGRAMS SUGGESTED

To prove marijuana either a potent medicine or useless remedy once and for
all, Nevada doctors and pharmacists are recommending the state develop
medical marijuana research programs to test its effectiveness.

The move would allow doctors to prescribe the plant and patients to smoke
it without criminal repercussions.

But it still may be a long time before patients in this state can legally
puff away.

Despite a recently approved state initiative allowing physicians to
prescribe marijuana for certain conditions, use of the drug is a felony
under federal law.

To protect doctors and patients from federal prosecution for prescribing
and smoking marijuana, local health professionals want to limit use of the
drug to state and federally approved research studies, which could add
months if not years to approval time.

These medical research recommendations, released in a report this week by
the Nevada Medical Marijuana Initiative Work Group, will be presented to
the 2001 Legislature as lawmakers decide how to implement the medical
marijuana initiative.

If the recommendations are enacted by the Legislature, they could become
effective as early as spring.

"Once the bill is effective, research programs would have to get up and
running, and it's hard to know how long that would take," said Louis Ling,
general counsel for the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy and part of the work
group. "No matter what system gets passed, it's going to be a good long
time before medical marijuana is available."

Sixty-five percent of voters supported a measure in November, allowing
physicians to prescribe marijuana to their patients to treat cancer,
glaucoma, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other ailments.

"The beauty of this medical research system is that once the feds have an
approved research project, everybody involved is legally protected," Ling
said. "Nobody can be sued, challenged or jailed. You are not going to be
exposing patients, doctors or pharmacists to legal prosecution because it's
federally approved."

Physicians and patients in other states with medical marijuana laws, such
as California, Alaska and Oregon, have been subject to federal prosecution
for prescribing and smoking marijuana under state law.

"Medical research is the only way that legally protects everyone involved,"
Ling said.

Under the group's recommendations, a physician interested in prescribing
marijuana to patients would first have to develop a research proposal to
study the drug as a treatment for any of the ailments listed in the
initiative. If the proposal is accepted by an ad hoc committee designed to
review such projects, the doctor would then take the project to the federal
government for approvals from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food
and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Once federally approved, marijuana for the study would be provided through
a federal farm in Mississippi and distributed through participating
pharmacies, Ling said. Marijuana from the same farm, grown in the same
controlled environment, ensures the consistency and potency of the drug,
which is vital to producing legitimate medical research. The plant would
not be grown, processed or manufactured in Nevada. Medical marijuana
studies are under way at the University of California at San Francisco.
Health officials in San Mateo County, Calif., are also seeking federal
approval.

Although the research recommendations will limit access to the drug and
make the prescription process more cumbersome, some say it's the only way
to truly classify marijuana as a legitimate medication, if it proves to be
so through scrupulous medical trials.

"The advantage of the proposal is that it would be fully legal and it also
provides studies, the results of which could be used nationwide to assess
the use of medical marijuana," state Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa
said.

Local AIDS activist Chris Reynolds, who works with AIDS patients who smoke
marijuana to ease pain and symptoms, said the proposal will "settle the
issue from both sides."

"Those against medical marijuana say there's no proof it works, so this
way, there will be a research project to get proof. I've been a longtime
supporter of medical marijuana. I don't use it, but I think there are
alternatives for those who need to relieve suffering," he said.

Dr. Marietta Nelson, an ophthalmologist and president of the state medical
association, said marijuana is good for some medical conditions, but she's
concerned about the federal laws on distribution and use of the drug.
Although she doesn't plan on prescribing marijuana for her glaucoma
patients, she does hope the new state initiative is set up to protect local
doctors and patients who use the plant from federal prosecution.

"The effect of marijuana on glaucoma is very short-lived," Nelson said. "It
only lasts a few hours, and there are other good glaucoma medications out
there to relieve the eye pressure. I really doubt if any ophthalmologist
will be using marijuana for glaucoma."