MEDICAL PANEL SEES BENEFITS OF MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON -- The active ingredients in marijuana ease pain and nausea in
AIDS and cancer patients and "should be tested rigorously" in scientific
studies, a prestigious medical panel advising the federal government said
Wednesday.

In one of the most comprehensive assessments of the medical uses of the
drug, an 11-member panel of investigators for the Institute of Medicine
warned against permitting smoked marijuana for such patients -- as some
advocacy groups are seeking -- and instead proposed development of an
inhaling device.

In its study, the Institute of Medicine, which is affiliated with the
independent, quasi-federal National Academy of Sciences, rebutted a
long-held view of many opponents of marijuana that it is a "gateway" drug
to more dangerous narcotics.

The report says there is "no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of
marijuana are causally linked to subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."

"Marijuana has potential as medicine, but it is undermined by the fact that
patients must inhale harmful smoke," said Dr. Stanley J. Watson Jr., one of
the study's principal investigators, at a news conference called to release
the inch-thick study.

"Until researchers develop a safe and effective delivery system,
care-givers must consider the health problems that can result from smoking
when deciding whether to recommend marijuana to patients," said Watson,
co-director of the University of Michigan's Mental Health Research
Institute in Ann Arbor.

"Marijuana's future as medicine does not involve smoking," he added.

The institute said that for people undergoing chemotherapy and those
suffering from AIDS, chemicals in marijuana stimulate the appetite, ease
pain and anxiety and reduce nausea and vomiting.

But the panel said marijuana, which has been touted by some advocacy groups
as a treatment for glaucoma, reduces eye pressure accompanying the disease
only temporarily.

The study proposed development of new drugs derived from the chemicals in
marijuana called "cannabinoids" that could be delivered through an inhaler.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved only one such medication,
Marinol, currently available in pill form, for use by seriously ill AIDS
patients or those with cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

The report said smoked marijuana should be permitted only in a few
circumstances until additional marijuana-derived drugs and the inhaler are
available.

Dr. John A. Benson Jr., dean of the Oregon Health Sciences University
School of Medicine and the other principal investigator for the study, said
marijuana should be smoked only by "terminally ill patients or those with
debilitating symptoms that do not respond to approved medications." Benson
called for strict medical supervision in such instances.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which commissioned
the study, called the findings "the most thorough analysis to date of the
relevant scientific literature" on the medical use of marijuana.

But the office, headed by retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who has
opposed legalizing marijuana for medical use, did not endorse the findings.

In a statement, McCaffrey said he "will carefully study" the
recommendations, adding, "We note in the report's conclusion that the
future of cannabinoid drugs lies not in smoked marijuana, but in chemically
defined drugs," the statement said.

Patient advocacy groups hailed the study. Chuck Thomas, co-director of the
Marijuana Policy Project here, said the report "shows that marijuana is a
relatively safe and effective medicine for many patients."

Wayne Turner, an executive with the gay rights group ACT-UP, said, "This
report is a long time coming. Once and for all, we now have the stamp of
approval for what we've been maintaining all along, that marijuana has
medical benefit."

But Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., who led a successful fight to get the House
to condemn medical marijuana last fall, said he is "deeply concerned" that
the report might encourage people to smoke marijuana.

He acknowledged that some of the chemicals in marijuana can be useful but
said their place is in inhalers or pills. "We should not sanction smoked
marijuana because there is no way to control that," McCollum said.

Robert Maginnis of the conservative Family Research Council insisted
doctors have other medicines to treat any ailment that marijuana can help.

Public opinion on using marijuana for medical purposes has been divided.

Ballot initiatives supporting such use were approved by voters in
California in 1996 and voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington last year.

But the Clinton administration has denounced the measures and said federal
law prohibits medical use of the drug except in a few cases. Last year's
House resolution said marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and
should not be legalized for medical use.