TOPEKA DOCTOR CONCERNED WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS

A Topeka doctor opposed to marijuana use is happy the U.S. Supreme Court
will examine the question of marijuana being used as medicine but worries
what the court's ruling will be.

Dr. Eric A Voth, an internal medicine and addictions medicine specialist,
said he's concerned the justices potentially could rule in the "wrong
direction," validating "cannabis clubs" and allowing ballot initiatives to
continue in which voters decide whether the medical use of marijuana should
be allowed.

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether marijuana can be
provided to patients due to "medical necessity" even though federal law bars
its distribution.

The justices will hear the Clinton administration's effort to block a
California group from providing the drug to seriously ill patients for pain
and nausea relief. In that case, the Oakland, Calif., Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative contends that for some patients, marijuana is the only medicine
that effectively relieves their pain or symptoms, including nausea in cancer
patients undergoing chemotherapy and weight loss in HIV-positive patients.

Federal government attorneys said a lower court's ruling that allowed the
cooperative to distribute marijuana threatens the government's ability to
enforce federal drug laws.

Voth agrees, saying federal drug laws are being circumvented by the medical
use of marijuana. Voth is chairman of the Institute on Global Drug Policy,
an international anti-drug think tank.

California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and
Colorado have medical-marijuana laws in place or approved by voters.

The ballot initiatives in which some voters have approved medical use of pot
has "subverted" the whole federal Food and Drug Administration process of
testing the efficacy and safety of a proposed drug, Voth said.

"They've created medicine by popular vote, which is a scary process," Voth
said, adding the initiatives also are creating a legal defense for marijuana
possession in court cases.

The initiatives are funded by what Voth calls the "marijuana legalization
lobby," and "you have the public being sold a real bill of goods here. The
marijuana legalization lobby is taking advantage of sick patients to further
their cause."

In a pure cannabinoid state, Voth thinks there may be some legitimate uses
for marijuana to treat nausea and to enhance appetite. And the most active
ingredient in marijuana is available in a synthetic pill form.

However, Voth is opposed from a medical standpoint to taking the drug by
smoking because it damages the respiratory system, there are impurities that
can be consumed and there isn't a reliable way to measure the amount of drug
ingested by smoking.

From a social standpoint, Voth objects to the medical use of marijuana by
smoking because its blurs the issue in the public's view, giving a softer
social attitude toward the drug and encouraging legalization of pot for
general consumption by the public.

In most states that have legalized medical use of marijuana, there's
virtually no control on how a doctor decides who receives the drug and no
measure of the strength of the drug or whether it contains impurities, Voth
said.