MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES EASED

Federal Decision May Lead To Studies Of Drug Benefits

WASHINGTON -- Responding to pressure from scientists and voters, the
Clinton administration loosened restraints yesterday on medical
marijuana research. The move is expected to prompt more studies to see
whether the drug helps people with AIDS, cancer or eye disease.

Scientists with private grants will now be able to get legal marijuana
from the government's supply -- grown on a small plot in Mississippi
to make sure it's all the same strength.

Previously, only scientists who had won federal grants had access to
that marijuana. And only a few such federal studies have been approved.

`The time was right'

"We all thought the time was right" for the new guidelines, said
Steven W. Gust, a special assistant to the director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The guidelines were created after Cabinet-level discussions among
agencies involved in the U.S. war on drugs, including the Department
of Health and Human Services, NIH's parent agency, and the Justice
Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, Gust said.

The drug control office, headed by retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey,
favors marijuana studies "as long as they pass a peer-review process
to make sure the research is good science," said Charles Blanchard,
the office's chief counsel.

McCaffrey has opposed actions by states to permit medical uses of
marijuana, claiming that would prejudge serious scientific research.
Two recent expert reports recommended more research on marijuana,
citing evidence of its possible benefits to some patients.

Under the new guidelines, privately funded researchers conducting
"scientifically valid investigations" reviewed and approved by NIH
will be allowed to purchase the government marijuana. The price for
Uncle Sam's pot has not been set, and the drug is not expected to be
ready for researchers until December.

Some states allow use

Many cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome and glaucoma patients
use marijuana, often bought illegally on the street. At least six
states have passed measures to permit the drug's medicinal use if
prescribed by a physician.

Federal law, however, bans the drug. And many doctors are reluctant to
approve it for their patients because of the controversy over its benefits.

The tough federal stance on medical marijuana prompted some doctors in
California to get a court injunction to block what they feared would
be federal reprisals for prescribing marijuana to patients under that
state's compassionate-use laws.

Experts found in two recent reports that marijuana for some patients
is effective in relieving pain, nausea and vomiting caused by cancer
and AIDS.

Some glaucoma patients also smoke the drug to help relieve pressure
inside the eye.

A 1997 report by an NIH panel concluded that there is enough evidence
about marijuana's benefits to merit further research.

This year, the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy
of Sciences, also urged scientific research.

The institute also favored compassionate permits for use of the drug
by patients who were not helped by other medications.