FEDERAL DRUG AGENCY BATTLES LEGALIZATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The voters in California, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and
the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical
reasons. It hasn't made any difference to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

To the DEA, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, and, therefore, must be
strictly regulated by the federal government.

The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 also listed peyote, a hallucinogenic
cactus button, as a Schedule I drug.

But Congress exempted the Native American Church from the prohibition
against the use of peyote. Members of NAC use peyote as a sacrament.

Congress also allowed states to create their own exemptions for the use of
peyote. In Arizona, members of The Peyote Way of God and The Peyote
Foundation can use peyote.

In Minnesota, members of the American Indian Church can use peyote as a
sacrament. In Oregon, those with sincere religious intent may use peyote.
In Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, those who are members of bona fide
religious organizations may use peyote as a religious sacrament.

One can be exempt from the legal restrictions on a Schedule I drug for
religious reasons, but not for health reasons. There's something seriously
wrong here.

The medical marijuana prosecutions in California are a warning to the tens
of thousands of seriously ill citizens who use marijuana to ease their pain
and nausea. The case of author and publisher Peter McWilliams of Los
Angeles is illustrative of how federal drug agents and federal prosecutors
are targeting those who are ill and using state authorized medical marijuana.

Stripped of his ability to defend himself in a federal trial, on advice of
counsel, McWilliams has thrown himself to the mercy of the judge.

In 1996, McWilliams was diagnosed with AIDS and the AIDS- related cancer,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In that same year, California passed Proposition
215, which allows seriously ill patients, with a doctor's recommendation,
to grow and use marijuana. McWilliams was arrested by federal drug agents
and originally charged with numerous marijuana crimes.

McWilliams used marijuana to control his nausea with his AIDS medications.
It's the only anti-nausea drug that has worked well for him. Since his
arrest, McWilhams' health has declined precipitously because he has had to
use an anti-nausea drug that is much less effective for him.

U.S. District Court Judge George H. King ruled that McWilliams could not
mention his illness or Proposition 215 in his defense during the trial. The
judge also ruled that McWilliams could not argue medical necessity as a
defense. In other words, McWilliams was not allowed to defend himself in
court. According to McWilliams, it's the draconian nature of the laws in
drug cases.

So, on Nov.19, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and
distribute marijuana. In the plea agreement, McWilliams waived his right to
appeal. He now faces a maximum of five years in federal prison. At the
scheduled hearing on Feb.28, Judge King, if he is so inclined, can take
McWilllams' health into account and give him less time in prison or even
home detention. McWilliams sees any mandatory prison time as a probable
death sentence.

That's the warning to the citizens of America: Cross the federal marijuana
laws and your state laws won't protect you. It doesn't matter if you
suffer from cancer, AIDS, glaucoma or multiple sclerosis; you will end up
in prison. Non-violent marijuana offenders often receive longer prison
sentences than those who commit violent crimes.

The recent report from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of
Medicine acknowledges that "marijuana's active components are potentially
effective in treating pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting, and other
symptoms." The federal drug czar, Barry R. McCaffrey, in a Nov.16 debate on
ABC News, said the report "condemned the dangers of smoking marijuana." It
didn't. The report says that dangers to health associated with chronic
smoking of marijuana "awaits the results of well-designed studies."

Nevertheless, the popular movement to legalize the use of medical marijuana
continues. The states of Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire have
legislation pending that would legalize the use of marijuana to treat the
effects of serious illnesses.

And the state Senate in Hawaii has adopted a resolution urging the U.S.
Congress to pass legislation allowing individual states to determine their
own policies with regard to medical marijuana.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, introduced a bill in the U.S. House (HR 912
- -Medical Use of Marijuana Act) on March 2, in order to move marijuana from
a Schedule I drug of the Controlled Substances Act to a Schedule II drug of
the act. The bill would allow "the prescription or recommendation of
marijuana by a physician for medical use," and allows "producing and
distributing marijuana for such purpose."

Frank's bill has 11 co-sponsors, only one a Republican, Rep. Tom Campbell
of California. Currently, the bill languishes in the House Subcommittee on
Health and Environment. Meanwhile, citizens who are ill face drug
prosecution if they turn to medical marijuana, as provided by state law.

In 1988, the DEA's chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, ruled
that because marijuana is a safe therapeutically active substance,
marijuana must be transferred from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug,
according to the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I drugs have no known
medical use. The judge wrote: "It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and
capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the
benefits of this substance." That was 11 years ago - nothing has changed.

Drug busts often lead to the defendant losing most of his property to
forfeiture laws. Since the Clinton administration made marijuana busts its
priority, according to the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws
(NORML), someone is arrested on a marijuana charge every minute.

As early as 1980 the Justice Department bragged that it had obtained
drug-related forfeitures that amounted to over $90 million.

Clearly marijuana and other drug busts are a cash cow that the federal drug
agencies don't want to give up. No wonder the DEA resists moving marijuana
to a Schedule II drug.

It's up to the people to act in their states and petition Congress to pass
the Medical Use Marijuana Act.