US LIGHTS UP MARIJUANA CONTROVERSY

WASHINGTON - A report commissioned by the White House strongly backs
certain medical uses of marijuana, declaring that for some people with
serious diseases such as Aids and cancer, it may be one of the most
effective treatments available.

The report by the independent Institute of Medicine and anticipated in
the NZ Herald on Wednesday, was commissioned by the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy and could spark a reassessment of the
decades-long US drive to ban almost all marijuana use.

"We uncovered an explosion of new scientific knowledge about how the
active components in marijuana affect the body and in how they might
be used in a medical context," Dr John Benson, one of the principal
investigators for the report, said.

The institute's study, the product of more than 18 months of research,
highlighted continued concerns over marijuana, noting that the common
practice of smoking the drug was medically dangerous.

But it also declared that marijuana was not particularly addictive and
did not appear to be a "gateway" to the use of harder drugs such as
heroin.

For some patients with severe Aids or cancer symptoms such as nausea,
wasting and lack of appetite, marijuana - even in its smoked form -
appeared to have benefits that outweigh its risks, the investigators
said.

The report stressed new research should aim to design a "non-smoked,
rapid onset" delivery system which could mimic the speedy action of a
smoked marijuana cigarette.

The increasingly bitter US debate over medical marijuana was sparked
in 1996 when California became the first state to pass a local
initiative aimed at allowing patients with Aids, cancer, and other
serious diseases to use the drug.

Six other states have passed similar laws.

Barry McCaffrey, President Bill Clinton's anti-drug "tsar" and long an
outspoken opponent of relaxing anti-marijuana laws, ordered the report
in 1997. His office responded to the report's findings with a call for
more research.

"We will carefully study the recommendations and conclusions contained
in this report," the Office of National Drug Control Policy said.

Supporters of the medical marijuana movement declared the institute's
report an unequivocal victory.

Bill Zimmerman, director of Americans for Medical Rights, the sponsor
of six 1998 state marijuana initiatives, said the institute's findings
would radically rework the public image of what has long been one of
the United States' most demonised drugs.

"They are in effect saying that most of what the Government has told
us about marijuana is false.

"It's not addictive, it's not a gateway to heroin and cocaine, it has
legitimate medical use, and it's not as dangerous as common drugs like
Prozac and Viagra," he said.

"This is about as positive as you can get."