SOUTH DAKOTANS TO DECIDE MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE NOV. 7

Benefits, Side Effects of Drug on Society Debated

South Dakota would join 11 other states that allow some medical
patients to smoke marijuana to ease their pain and other medical
problems if voters approve Initiated Measure 4 on Nov. 7.

Diseases and conditions that would be covered include: cancer,
glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures,
severe or persistent muscle spasms and multiple sclerosis. The state
Department of Health also could approve other medical conditions.

Though some states permit medical marijuana, residents still can be
prosecuted in federal court.

Valerie Hannah of Deerfield said if the measure doesn't pass, she's
moving to California, where medical marijuana is allowed - although
she said she already uses limited amounts of it to quell her nerve pain.

"I'm the only person who will admit that they're a medical marijuana
patient in South Dakota," she said in a telephone interview.

Hannah said she served in the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s and
was exposed to chemical weapons that are basically causing her nerves
to dissolve.

"And with that comes extreme, extreme pain," she said.

No prescription drug is as effective as a few hits of pot a few times
a day, Hannah said.

"Not a whole joint. It's just a couple of tokes, a couple of hits off
a pipe," she said.

Hughes County Sheriff Mike Leidholt said he empathizes with Hannah
and others who suffer from chronic pain. But the relief it could
offer some people doesn't justify the cost to society, he said.

Among Liedholt's points:

. It sends a mixed message to children on the use of drugs.

. People other than the patient could get the marijuana, as a lot of
teens do now with alcohol.

. There have been great advances in prescription medications, so
it's not necessary to go back to natural remedies such as marijuana.

. Law enforcement officers wouldn't be allowed to test if a driver
with a prescription is under the influence of marijuana.

. The marijuana isn't subject to quality control standards that are
a part of Food and Drug Administration approval, so there's no way to
know the potency.

The law would allow each patient and caregiver up to six plants,
which could produce from 2,700 to more than 13,000 joints every year,
depending how well the plants are cultivated, he said.

"That's a lot of marijuana," Leidholt said. "If you're not going to
use that much, what are you going to do with the rest of it? Are you
going to share it with friends?"

Hannah, who no longer is able to work, said the measure is not an
attempt to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and it would
not make pot widely available.

"This is not a way to get it into the hands of your children or my
children or anybody else's. This is for legitimate people who need
this," she said. "Everyone should have the freedom to choose their
own medication."