MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE SHOULD PASS

Next month, South Dakota voters have an opportunity to embrace what
might be considered an act of compassion by passing Initiated Measure
4, which would provide certain seriously ill individuals with access
to marijuana for medical purposes.

The motivation behind the law is not marijuana, but such things as
cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis or other
maladies -- and, in some cases, the treatment thereof -- that can
seriously debilitate individuals.

Reports by the American Public Health Association and the Institute
of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences,
indicate that the use of marijuana by some severely ill patients may
relieve such symptoms as nausea and vomiting, and generally give some
of these people some semblance of a normal life again.

Initiated Measure 4 has been supported by more than 170 health care
professionals in the state, as well as such groups as the American
Nurses Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the
Lymphoma Foundation of America.

Certainly, the use of marijuana for purely medical purposes is a a
controversial topic, and opponents of the measure fear it will lead
to a broader use of the drug.

But Initiated Measure 4 would provide tight controls on the
dispensation and use of medical marijuana. The use of marijuana by an
individual patient would have to be approved by a physician.
Documentation must also be submitted to the state Department of
Health. A patient using medical marijuana, which would be acquired by
prescription through authorized pharmacists, would not be allowed to
drive under the effects of marijuana and may not smoke the substance
in any place where tobacco smoking is prohibited. In fact, the
measure should be viewed as what the attorney general describes in
his ballot explanation as "a defense to criminal prosecution" under
state law. Initiated Measure 4 would not repeal any federal laws
governing marijuana; in fact, it would add another level of medical
verification that should nullify any fears, as stated by some, of
rampant increases in marijuana use by the general public.

One argument made against the use of medical marijuana is that
numerous other drugs have already been tested and approved by the
Federal Food and Drug Administration, but marijuana has not undergone
such scrutiny.

However, since the aforementioned studies do show the benefits of
medical marijuana in offering relief to some suffering patients, it
does open the door to a very limited, very scrutinized use of the substance.

Also, fears about the unknown effects and potency of marijuana
sidestep the facts that patients often react quite differently -- and
sometimes, dramatically -- to drugs already approved for use. Some
people respond well, others don't. For some people, the medicine
meant to help them can have profound side effects. So there are never
any absolute guarantees about the effects of any medication or substance.

Eleven other states, including neighboring Montana, have already
approved some form of legislation for the use of medical marijuana in
certain circumstances. Obviously, as more states embrace the use of
medical marijuana, more definitive studies and assessments might be
given to the subject. If we can overcome our knee-jerk, "Reefer
Madness" fear of marijuana per se, the passage of Initiated Measure 4
would help provide physical relief for some suffering patients while
removing a couple of the legal roadblocks that could turn such an
option into a nightmare for those patients. Under the carefully
controlled circumstances provided, it is a law worth embracing. And
that's what South Dakotans should do Nov. 7.