PANEL SPLITS VERDICT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON - The active substances in marijuana may be moderately
useful for treating such problems as pain, nausea and appetite loss,
but smoked marijuana has little future as a medicine, according to a
panel of experts advising the federal government.

The long-awaited review, coming after several states legalized
marijuana for medical use, was immediately seized upon by advocates of
marijuana as an endorsement of their position.

''We are very pleased with this report, which clearly shows there is
scientific evidence that marijuana has bona fide therapeutic effects
for some patients,'' said Chuck Thomas, director of the Marijuana
Policy Project. ''Patients already using marijuana should be given the
benefit of the doubt, and should not be arrested.''

The report, prepared by 11 scientists convened by the National Academy
of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, specifically warned against smoked
marijuana because of the risk of lung damage.

Therapeutic marijuana smoking should be permitted only in a few short
clinical trials designed to assess claims for marijuana's usefulness
as a pharmaceutical, it said.

Barry McCaffrey, the White House official responsible for drug policy,
who requested the report, said he endorsed it ''thoroughly,'' and
called it a ''significant contribution to discussing the issue from a
scientific and medical viewpoint.'' He said he would not oppose
limited studies of smoked marijuana until a less-harmful way of
inhaling the substance's active ingredients was found.

''I would note, however, that the report says smoked marijuana has
little future as an approved medication,'' Mr. McCaffrey said.

The panel reviewed published medical studies on marijuana's
physiological effects and possible clinical benefits, and took
testimony from researchers and patients.

The claims for marijuana are very broad. People have used it as
treatment for nausea caused by chemotherapy, appetite loss arising
from AIDS, the painful spasms of multiple sclerosis, the pain of
migraine headache, the sight-threatening condition glaucoma, and the
memory loss of Alzheimer's disease.

Reliable data on the drug's benefits, however, have been hard to get.
The Drug Enforcement Administration places marijuana - along with
heroin and several other addictive drugs - in the category of
substances with ''a high abuse potential.''

This has made research on patients unusually difficult.