REMOVE THE ROADBLOCKS TO MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

TUNE in to science. Turn away from propaganda. Drop the nonsense about
marijuana being medically useless.
When Californians legalized medicinal marijuana in 1996, national drug
policy director Barry McCaffrey sneered at the notion that smoking a
joint could help people suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis
and other diseases. He told the National Academy of Science's Institute
of Medicine: Show me the evidence.

Wednesday, the institute released its report, ``Marijuana and Medicine:
Assessing the Science Base.'' (Go to www.nap.edu or call 1-800-624-6242.)
It concludes that medicinal marijuana advocates aren't just blowing
smoke.

Scientific data shows that the active ingredients in marijuana, known
as cannabinoids, may relieve pain, control nausea and vomiting and
stimulate appetite.

``The psychological effects of cannabinoids may contribute to their
potential therapeutic value.'' (Getting high can make the patient feel
better.)

``Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects
of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other
medications.''

There is ``no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana
are causally linked to subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.'' The
first ``gateway'' to drug abuse is underage use of tobacco and
alcohol. In addition, ``there is no evidence that approving the
medical use of marijuana would increase its use among the general
population, particularly if marijuana were regulated as closely as
other medications with the potential to be abused.'' McCaffrey is
stressing the report's anti-herb message: ``The future of cannabinoid
drugs lies not in smoked marijuana but in chemically defined
(cannabinoid) drugs.''

Compounds produced in the lab ``are preferable to plant products
because they deliver a consistent dose and are made under controlled
conditions,'' the report concludes.

The ideal would be smokeless ``cannabinoid delivery systems'' that
offer smoking's rapid effect without long-term risks. ``Something like
an inhaler would deliver precise doses without the health problems
associated with smoking,'' said University of Michigan researcher
Stanley Watson, co-principal investigator of the Institute of Medicine
study.

But patients shouldn't have to wait years for an inhaler. In addition
to clinical trials, the report recommends allowing short-term use of
smoked marijuana for patients who are terminally ill or have
debilitating symptoms that don't respond to other medications.

``We are delighted that science is the basis of the discussion of this
issue, as it must be,'' said the press release from the drug czar's
office.

The delighted czar should now recommend moving marijuana in the
federal regulatory scheme from Schedule I (high risk of abuse, no
known medical benefits) to Schedule II (high risk of abuse, some
medical use), which would let doctors prescribe marijuana under strict
controls, as they do cocaine and morphine. Schedule III, for less
dangerous controlled drugs, would be the best fit but that's too much
delight for one czar.

Politics has trumped science up till now.

Last fall, the House voted 310-93 for a resolution declaring marijuana
a dangerous, medically useless drug.

The Clinton administration opposes reclassification. As the president
who smoked marijuana, but never inhaled, Clinton would rather be
stupid than soft on drugs.

The safe stand is to call for more studies, and then ignore the
results. So far, federal agencies are authorizing clinical trials on
the risks of marijuana, but denying approval for studies on the
potential benefits. That means researchers can't get legal marijuana
grown on the government's research farm. If they try to proceed with
private financing and grow-your-own marijuana, they risk arrest.

If marijuana were a Schedule II drug, doctors could recommend it under
California's medicinal marijuana law without fear of reprisals, says
Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

When Dan Lungren was attorney general, he worked with the feds to
threaten doctors and close cannabis clubs, driving patients to the
black market.

Lockyer voted for Proposition 215, saying that he'd seen his mother
and sister die of leukemia.

He's named a task force headed by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose,
and Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, which is
looking for ways to solve critical problems with the law: How can
marijuana be grown, transported and distributed to genuinely sick
patients? Who verifies patients' legitimacy? Who decides how much
marijuana is enough?

``We're optimistic we can reach consensus,'' says Rand Martin,
Vasconcellos' aide. ``The question is whether it will make any
difference with the feds.''

If federal regulators keep marijuana in Schedule I, denying doctors
the right to prescribe it under any conditions, we'll have that answer.