GOOD FIRST TRY AT RULES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The folks charged with drafting administrative rules for the state's new
medical marijuana law heard the complaints and heeded them. They were taking
too long, and the rules were so stringent as to be virtually unusable.

After all, when you consider that the point of the law is relief from
suffering, then months of delay and petty hurdles are no minor matter.

Now they've hurried up and produced a useful, workmanlike product that the
intended beneficiaries will find usable. Gov. Ben Cayetano signed them this
week.

The rules, of course, are not perfect. They can't be. That's because the use
of medical marijuana is still illegal under federal law. That being the
case, vagueness and ambiguity aren't flaws, but constructive creativity.

The rules don't tell patients how to obtain marijuana. That's because, if an
organization begins distributing marijuana in any quantity, or uses the
mails or airports, it invites the attention of federal narcotics
enforcement.

The rules make clear that a patient can possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana,
and they can have up to seven marijuana plants. Marijuana plants grow like
weeds, which explains one of this drug's many nicknames. Thus the patient
must go underground to obtain his first "stash"; but thereafter, he should
be self-sufficient.

Generally speaking, the federal government isn't inclined to go out of its
way to arrest and prosecute penny-ante users. They'll continue to pursue
distribution networks, and they won't be impressed by major dealers claiming
to be angels of mercy.

One other worthwhile feature of the new rules deserves praise: Largely, they
now take physicians off the hook for what their patients do after they've
been certified. Earlier rules put so much responsibility on the shoulders of
doctors, it seemed highly unlikely that any of them would be bold enough to
sign for a patient's marijuana use.

The new rules are a good effort for now. They'll be improved with
experience. But nothing will help them so much as national legalization of
medical marijuana.