PANEL TOUTS MARIJUANA - WITHOUT THE SMOKE

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

The 11-member panel for the Institute of Medicine warned against
permitting smoked marijuana for such patients - as some advocacy
groups want - and instead proposed development of an inhaling device.

"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 principal investigators.

"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.

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, touted by some advocates as a treatment
for glaucoma, reduces eye pressure accompanying the disease only
temporarily.

The study proposed development of 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 alternatives are available.

The report could mark a step in the right direction, said Rep. Tammy
Baldwin, D-Wis., who while a member of the Wisconsin General Assembly
introduced legislation to legalize the use of marijuana for patients
under the care of a doctor.

"This is an area where I think it's so important that doctors and
scientists make the decisions rather than politicians at the federal
level," the Madison Democrat said. "If scientists and physicians
believe that a drug can be used to alleviate pain and suffering, then
I believe they should be able to prescribe it."