MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE: LET'S MAKE THE LAW WORK

CALIFORNIA, THE FIRST state in the union to legalize medical
marijuana 2 1/2 years ago, finally appears ready to find a way to
properly implement the law, and it's high time.

In November 1996, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 215, a
landmark initiative that permitted patients to use, grow and possess
pot if it is recommended by a doctor.

It was a radical initiative, poorly drafted and loaded with
ambiguities. The measure put the state in direct conflict with federal
law and the Clinton administration's hard-nosed drug policy.

While doctors can prescribe morphine, amphetamines, codeine and a
pharmacopoeia of potentially dangerous drugs, federal law strictly
outlaws marijuana under any circumstances.

The drug war crackdown on marijuana has taken a heavy toll on pot
heads and peddlers, filling jails and prisons across the country.
Though penalties for pot offenses often seem draconian, we are not
arguing for legalizing marijuana.

Just for the record, we deplore illegal drug use by anyone and urge
kids to stay clean. Marijuana should not be used for recreation, and
adults who use it as medicine should not drive or operate heavy equipment.

Since Prop. 215 passed, medical pot advocates have sought legal ways
to distribute marijuana, such as cannabis buyers' clubs, where
patients can buy the stuff with a note from their physician in safe
surroundings.

But zealous federal and state drug warriors have fought the clubs
every step of the way, closing most and driving the rest underground.
It is difficult for many law-abiding patients to find the pot they
insist helps their medical conditions and gives them solace.

In a hopeful sign, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has
appointed a 25- member task force to study Prop. 215 and find ways to
implement and oversee the law.

The task force of narcotics experts, doctors, pot advocates and law
enforcement officers is co-chaired by state Senator John Vasconcellos,
D-Santa Clara, a long-time champion of medical marijuana, and Santa
Clara District Attorney George Kennedy, a law-and-order Republican.

Their tricky mission is to find ways to make marijuana available to
patients who truly need it, without violating federal law and within
the spirit of Prop. 215.

It's a worthy goal. More than 70 modern scientific studies and 2000
years of anecdotal evidence support claims that pot is a helpful folk
medicine for people suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, migraine
headaches and an array of other ailments.

Until a federal judge halted pot sales operations last October, the
Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was a model of discreet
distribution.

The cooperative required a membership card, a California doctor's
written recommendation, and patients had to be state residents.

Although it no longer sells pot, the Oakland cooperative remains open,
offering referrals, cultivation advice and lobbying for more
compassionate drug laws.

Dr. Mike Alcalay is the cooperative's medical director. He has been
HIV-positive since 1985 and says smoking marijuana has saved his life.

The 57-year-old Alcalay is a good advertisement for the medical
benefits of marijuana. He is on a harsh regimen of protease
inhibitors. He takes 40 to 60 pills a day, including three
experimental drugs, and he credits pot for keeping him alive and healthy.

``It's hard to define how because it helps in so many modes,'' he
says. ``It gives you an appetite, eliminates queasiness, nausea and
helps with pain. I call it a wonder drug.''

Alcalay says he smokes two or three joints a week. He doesn't like to
get stoned, but concedes pot lifts his spirits as he fights off the
effects of the disease.

Prop. 215 was a crudely-written initiative, but it created a crack in
the drug-war battlements and inspired a grassroots movement to
legalize medical pot in six other states and probably Washington, D.C.
(A disapproving Congress refuses to allow the votes to be counted, so
the issue remains moot.)

Advocates have targeted four more states for future marijuana
initiatives.

As with so many many social and intellectual trends, California is the
innovator and leader in the medical marijuana movement.

Some recreational dopers are sure to take advantage of any loosening
of marijuana laws, but their misdemeanors should not deny medicinal
pot to legitimate patients.

California voters put the law on the books in 1996, and now the AG's
Medical Marijuana Task Force has a rare opportunity to find a
creative, compassionate and practical solution to a knotty problem
neglected too long.

WHERE MEDICINAL MARIJUANA LAWS HAVE TAKEN
ROOT

Since 1996, a majority of voters in seven states has approved ballot
initiatives to remove criminal penalties for the medical use of
marijuana. A medical pot measure was on ballot in Washington, D.C.,
last year, but Congress refused to count the vote. Exit polls
suggested it passed by 69 percent.

- -- In recent years, measures to legalize medical marijuana have been
approved in every state where the public has had a chance to vote on
the issue. However, pot remains illegal under federal law. Four other
states are targeted for similar measures.

- -- U.S. Representative Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced a bill (HR
912) in March that would allow states to determine their own policies
on medical marijuana. However, last year the House passed a nonbinding
resolution opposed to medical pot laws.

LEGAL

California

Oregon

Washington

Alaska

PLANNED

Hawaii

Florida

Maine

Minnesota

CHALLENGED

Nevada

Colorado

Arizona

Washington D.C.