STATES PUSH MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHALLENGE

WASHINGTON,- Alaska this week joined a small but
growing list of states with medical marijuana laws in effect.

Yet, despite legislative and voter approval, the new statutes run head
first into a stone wall of federal codes prohibiting the use of the
drug in any circumstance.

California, Arizona, Washington State and Oregon also have laws that
lift the risk of state prosecution for any seriously ill patient
prescribed marijuana cigarettes for a very short list of illnesses and
diseases. In most states, smoking medical marijuana is limited to
treating glaucoma, chronic pain, seizures and spasms and AIDS and
nausea from cancer chemotherapy,

The Minnesota Legislature this week also is considering similar
legislation and voters in Colorado and Maine are expected to see
ballot issues in 2000. Nevada voters have approved a law, but it
requires a second verification vote that will be held in 2000 as well.
Many of the states with laws, however, are still working out ways
patients can legally obtain and use the drug.

Federal statutes prohibit the growth, use or distribution of marijuana
for any purpose. So while patients may be exempt from state
prosecution, they are not off the hook in the event of a federal drug
bust.

``The new laws are trying to compromise and...help patients without
running into conflict with federal law,'' said Paul Armentano, of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. ``No
state is going to challenge the federal government.''

And the federal government isn't showing any sign of giving in. After
the 1998 elections, in which the Alaska law was approved, federal
prosecutors made it clear they will continue to enforce statutes
against marijuana use while encouraging medical research into the
efficacy of smoking marijuana.

Joe Lockhart, President Clinton's press secretary, also reiterated
last November the administration opposes legalized medical marijuana
without convincing scientific evidence.

Nathan Barankin, of the California attorney general's office, said
while the state does not support legalized marijuana for recreational
use, it has ``engaged in a dialogue'' with the federal government
regarding the possibility of reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I
drug to a Schedule II prescription drug, as has been done with cocaine.

``Our objective is to fulfill the will of California voters (in
1996),'' Barankin said. ``The problems between the federal and state
laws are almost irreconcilable.''

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced legislation
March 2 to lift the federal ban and reclassify marijuana as a Schedule
II drug. The bill would affect only those states that have laws on the
books allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

In September 1997, the U.S. House went on record opposing a change in
the classification of marijuana. In a special resolution, it agreed
that ``Congress continues to support the existing federal legal
process for determining the safety and efficacy of drugs and opposes
efforts to circumvent this process by legalizing marijuana, and other
Schedule I drugs, for medicinal use without valid scientific evidence
and the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.''

It also called on the Food and Drug Administration to report back on
``specific efforts underway'' to enforce the Food, Drug and Cosmetic

Act with respect to marijuana and other Schedule I drugs.

In Philadelphia, a federal judge has allowed a class-action suit
seeking to legalize the drugs use for medical reasons. U.S. District
Judge Marvin Katz, in a ruling issued Wednesday, said the suit could
proceed on the plaintiff's claim that they were being denied the equal
protection of the law, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The lawsuit notes that the federal government settled a lawsuit in
1978 by allowing a group of 14 people with serious medical problems to
receive as many as 300 marijuana cigarettes a month. The cigarettes
were produced from government-grown crops.

Dr. Eric Voth, a Topeka, Kan. internist and addiction specialist and
head of the International Drug Strategy Institute, said he doesn't
believe efforts to change federal law will be successful.

``No other smoked medicine (is approved). Why break the standards just
for pot?'' Voth said.

Voth said the push for medical marijuana is really a cover by groups,
such as NORML, to legalize the drug for recreational use.

``They initiated the whole process back in the early 1970s,'' he said.
``One executive director is quoted as saying this is pivotal to the
move to legalize marijuana.''

Armentano said NORML sees recreational and medical use of marijuana as
two separate issues. He said cocaine is a Schedule II drug but there
has been no move to make it legal for recreational use and added
recent public opinion polls show while up to 70 percent of respondents
favored marijuana for medical use, less than 50 percent wanted it
legalized for recreational use.