ISLE DOCTORS MUST STILL OBEY FEDERAL DRUG LAWS

We were dismayed to see the recent editorial in which you lambaste the
Hawaii Medical Association for opposing legislation to legalize
medical marijuana. Your editorial goes on to state, "We hope Hawaii's
medical community will have the wisdom and courage to prescribe this
palliative where indicated."

Physicians work every day to heal their patients and to alleviate pain
and suffering - this is our passion and our job.

Clearly, we disagree on the process through which medical marijuana
should be approved for legal use in our country. As we have stated
numerous times, this is not an issue of the medical community opposing
any legalization of medical marijuana. Rather, we believe the use of
medical marijuana must be approved through the same federal process
that all prescriptive drugs in our country undergo - based on evidence
from scientific, controlled studies, approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration and distributed through pharmacies.

You continue to have complete disregard for the fact that federal law
prohibits physicians from prescribing marijuana. If a physician
recommends marijuana to a patient, he is in danger of losing his
federal license to prescribe controlled substances (DEA license) and
could be subject to criminal prosecution. The reality is that
physicians must still comply with federal law, regardless of the
wisdom of our Legislature.

As the largest professional organization for physicians in the state,
it is our responsibility and duty to inform our members as to what the
law is - not to second-guess whether or not the federal government
will enforce its own laws.

James Lumeng, M.D. President Hawaii Medical Association

Phil Hellreich, M.D. Legislative Chair

John McDonnell, M.D. Legislative Vice Chair