MEDICAL MARIJUANA DESERVES TRY

Striking a blow for common sense and effective medical care, a private
scientific institute has recommended that marijuana cigarettes be made
available to help seriously ill patients whose misery might be relieved by
smoking the now-outlawed substance.

The recommendation flies in the face, and helps expose the folly, of the
federal government's hard-as-granite position on marijuana. Federal law
still outlaws its use, and last fall Congress adopted a resolution
condemning marijuana's use, even under medical supervision.

Yet a mountain of anecdotal evidence, plus an explosion of new scientific
research, show that the active ingredient in marijuana appears to be useful
for treating pain and other symptoms associated with cancer and AIDS in some
patients, reported the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the prestigious
National Academy of Sciences.

Further demolishing any justification for the government's across-the-board
ban, the institute study, issued last Wednesday, said there was no evidence
that making marijuana available to sick patients would increase its
recreational use, or that marijuana introduced users to more dangerous
narcotics such as heroin.

It should be emphasized that the institute recommended nothing that would
encourage young people or others to smoke pot. On the contrary, the
institute urged that marijuana be used only under medical supervision; for
only a short time; only by patients suffering from a few specific maladies,
and only when other treatments have failed.

Moreover, it warned would-be users that the smoke in marijuana cigarettes is
dangerous, and for this reason it urged the development of new ways to
administer the drug, such as inhalers.

Very often, doctors prescribe medicines that are lethal when used
carelessly. For example, highly addictive narcotics are prescribed in
certain situations. No rational, humane person objects to this, especially
to relieve pain in patients who are mortally ill.

By the same token, there is no legitimate reason to object to the medical
use of marijuana. If marijuana helps doctors make life more bearable for
people who are suffering, it would be unreasonable and cruel to deny
physicians -- and their patients -- this tool.