MARIJUANA:IT'S ABOUT TIME SCIENTISTS TOOK A SERIOUS LOOK AT MEDICAL USES

Politics, plain and simple, is the main reason why scientists are only
now seriously studying the possible medical benefits of marijuana. The
plant has been used as a recreational drug for centuries.

And for almost that many years, anecdotal evidence has suggested that
properties in marijuana reduce nausea and increase appetite. For
cancer patients suffering from debilitating side effects of
chemotherapy, these two benefits could help reduce the misery that
sometimes accompanies their lifesaving treatment.

But because marijuana is an illegal drug, scientists until now have
had difficulty securing permission or money to carefully study the
possible medical benefits.

Barry R. McCaffrey, the White house drug control policy director,
should be commended for requesting a report on the therapeutic uses of
marijuana. The 250-page report, prepared by 11 scientists working
under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of
Medicine, was released this week.

The results are inconclusive, but hopeful. The scientists urge more
study of the drug and note that there is a high probability that it
will prove to be of value for very sick people.

The experts caution against studying the benefits of smoked marijuana
because of the dangers associated with smoking. They note that
marijuana has higher levels of tar and other harmful substances than
tobacco. Of course, for those with terminal illnesses the fear of lung
cancer might be as irrelevant as the fear of addiction is for those
needing powerful painkillers in the final stages of life.

The issue of smoking will be moot anyway if marijuana is proven
beneficial and the federal government lets reason prevail. No doubt
the American pharmaceutical industry will work quickly to develop an
inhalable form of marijuana extracts.

Meanwhile, countless chemotherapy patients continue to endure
unrelenting nausea. Science should take a no-holds-barred approach to
research of marijuana and other drugs that could possibly ease the
suffering of the sick.