DOCTOR WORM

There are doctors in Maine who believe legalizing marijuana for
medical purposes is good medicine. But try to find one with the
courage to say that publicly. Asking pro-pot physicians to openly
endorse the referendum question on the Nov. 2 ballot seems to cause
cases of the shakes reminiscent of the camera work in "The Blair Witch
Project." It's enough to give the average doctor motion sickness.

(Fortunately, marijuana helps control nausea.)

It's also enough to make people suffering from the side effects of
chemotherapy for cancer and wasting syndrome from AIDS even sicker
than they already are. Doctors -- the one group that should be
advocating most strongly for the needs of those patients -- are almost
entirely silent.

"I'm reluctant to talk, mostly because I've got so many other things
on my plate," said one prominent Portland physician, who asked that
his name not be used. "I don't want to get drawn into the limelight
too much."

Talk about operating.

The ballot question asks voters to allow doctors to advise patients
that smoking marijuana could help alleviate the symptoms from certain
diseases, such as cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. Because the state cannot
supersede federal law, the initiative won't make pot available by
prescription, but it would permit people with those illnesses to
possess small amounts of the drug.

Similar laws have been approved by voters in six states and the
District of Columbia. Polls show the measure enjoys overwhelming
support in Maine. So why are members of the medical community who
support the idea so reluctant to speak out?

It's certainly not because they lack strong opinions on the subject.
"I disagree with the premise that marijuana leads to other drugs," a
mid-coast physician told the Bangor Daily News. "It's an effective
medicine for certain uses."

Unfortunately, the good doctor preceded his comments by asking the
reporter not to use his name.

"It's a little backwater of us not to talk," admitted another doctor
known for his outspoken activism on other issues. "You're not going to
quote me on that, are you?"

As a result of this outbreak of yellowbelly fever, the public may be
getting the erroneous impression that all the state's physicians
oppose the use of medical marijuana. Some news outlets reported the
Maine Medical Association had unanimously endorsed a resolution
opposing physician-assisted pot. But those in attendance at the
association's meeting on Sept. 17 in Bar Harbor said a small, but
significant, number of doctors either opposed the anti-marijuana
statement or abstained from voting.

The same news reports also neglected to mention that the doctors'
group had significantly watered down the resolution before approving
it. Gone was all that crap about marijuana being a "gateway drug," an
old war-on-drugs slogan that has no basis in scientific research. Also
missing was the absurd claim that there was no evidence pot had
medicinal value. If that were so, why would the federal government
permit doctors to prescribe Marinol, an artificial version of the
active ingredient in marijuana?

It was obvious somebody with some sympathy for sick people and some
common sense about what the latest research showed had been at work
behind the scenes. But behind the scenes isn't good enough in a
political campaign on a volatile issue. Somebody has to be willing to
stand up and speak the truth in public.

About the closest anyone has come to doing that is Dr. Owen Pickus, a
Portland oncologist and a leader in treating people with AIDS. Pickus
doesn't hesitate to support the medical use of marijuana and to label
his fellow physicians as cowards for failing to join him in doing so.

"Doctors in general are conservative in their beliefs," he said.
"They're afraid of peer pressure. They tend to be sheep. Followers,
rather than leaders.

"They're trained to be peer-reviewed. That's a system that suggests
that if you're outside of what your peers think is right, you must be
wrong -- even if your peers are wrong.

"They see no upside to standing up and taking a position."

Unfortunately, Pickus won't be appearing in any TV spots for the
medical marijuana referendum. He opposes the measure because it
creates a conflict between Maine and national law. "You can't satisfy
either the patient or the government," he said. "It does harm to the
doctor-patient relationship."

Instead, Pickus favors changing federal regulations to allow doctors
to prescribe pot. Of course, that'll happen about the same time George
W. Bush 'fesses up to snortin' coke.

In the meantime, Maine doctors should check to see if there's a drug
available that will give them some artificial courage.