UC RESEARCH TO STUDY USE OF MARIJUANA

As part of an ongoing debate between California and the federal government,
the state legislature allocated funding for a UC research program to study
the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

The three-year research program to investigate the benefits of marijuana
was recently signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis. The purpose of the
legislation is to convince the federal government of marijuana's usefulness
and to provide concrete data to physicians about the drug's use, said Rand
Martin, chief of staff for State Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose).
Vasconcellos was the sponsor of the research bill.

But one researcher said past studies have shown marijuana's medical
benefits. Medical benefits of the drug for multiple sclerosis, cancer and
glaucoma patients have been studied at UCLA in the past with positive results.

"Research has been done. We studied the active ingredient in marijuana for
relief of nausea," said Thomas Ungerleider, a physician and psychiatrist at
the UCLA Medical Center. Ungerleider has been involved in many studies at
the university focusing on the medical benefits of marijuana.

The studies focused on relief of pressure for glaucoma patients and relief
of nausea for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.

Ungerleider said the UC research would "probably look at different ways of
delivering the drug and the number of people that would benefit from
(marijuana as a medicine)."

Which universities will participate in the research program have not yet
been determined.

One anticipated problem for the researchers is obtaining marijuana for the
study. The federal government has placed several legal barriers in the way
of getting marijuana for research, said Mark A.R. Kleiman, professor of
public policy and director of the drug policy analysis program.

"The California attorney general has the ability to make seized cannabis
available, though," he said.

Continuing the debate around the legalization of marijuana, many students
said the drug should be legalized for medicinal purposes only, not for
recreational use, if research proves its usefulness.

"If enough studies show that it helps people in pain, and there are
regulations, (marijuana) should be legalized for medicinal purposes," said
Yvette Serrato, a second-year psychology student.

The research program is the latest development in the ongoing battle
between the federal and state governments over the legalization of
medicinal marijuana.

In California, Proposition 215, a referendum legalizing the dispensing of
marijuana by doctors in certain cases, was passed in 1996. The proposition
- - along with six similar ones from other states and the District of
Columbia - is essentially null without the support of the federal
government, said David Sklansky, professor of law.

"Federal law trumps state law. Until the federal government allows
marijuana for medicinal purposes, any state law will be limited," he said.

Last month, two marijuana advocates arrested on drug charges were banned
from using medical necessity or Proposition 215 in their defense. A federal
judge told them they could not mention either item in the trial.

Some politicians said that the Clinton administration is fearful of drug
legislation.

"This is a political administration that is afraid of its own history on
drug issues. It will not accept the advancement of medical marijuana while
in office," Martin, of Vasconcellos' office, said.

He added that the federal government is not close to legalizing marijuana
for medicinal purposes.

Medicinal marijuana's legalization would give the wrong message to
children, said White House Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey.

"The proposition sends our children - our future - a message that marijuana
use is safe and healthy and that marijuana is medicine," he said in a
statement when Proposition 215 passed.

McCaffrey has also said that there are other alternatives to marijuana.

Merinol, the closest drug to marijuana, is a pill derived from the THC,
marijuana's active ingredient. But Ungerleider said it is not as effective
as marijuana. A law is not necessary to allow doctors to prescribe
marijuana, only approval from the Food and Drug Administration is needed,
according to Kleiman. If the FDA were to approve it, marijuana would
automatically move to being legal with a prescription.

"What's needed is not a new law, but clinical research showing that
marijuana is 'safe and effective' as a medicine for some condition, which
would support a new drug approval from the FDA," Kleiman said.

"Once the FDA approves a drug - which it might, given adequate evidence,
despite the political pressures - it's automatically rescheduled," he
continued.

Currently marijuana is a Schedule I drug along with LSD, cocaine and
heroin. Schedule II drugs are controlled substances such as
anti-depressants and heavy painkillers that are available with a prescription.

Kleiman said that the problem of useful drugs awaiting approval at the FDA
wasn't limited to marijuana.

If legalized, some students said it would change people's perception of
marijuana.

"People would have a looser mentality about it," said Hieu Nguyen a
fifth-year design student.

Others said making it legal would have no effect on how people see
recreational use of marijuana.

"People use it now as it is. It wouldn't increase or decrease recreational
use," Serrato said.