THE REAL DOPE ON THE US ELECTION

Despite Americans exhibiting a collective clear-mindedness on contemporary
society's most emotive issue, drug policy reform has passed without
appropriate reflection admist the lessons drawn from the U.S. mid-term
elections. On November 3, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes
(so-called "medical marijuana") received widespread support in several
state-wide referenda.

Voters in five states passed judgement on whether or not doctors may
prescribe marijuana as a medical treatment for seriously or terminally ill
patients.

But apparently the federal and state governments are not listening. Arizona
voters supported medical marijuana in 1996 but popular opinion was
subsequently ignored by the state legislature; meanwhile, the US Congress
threatened to use the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to revoke the
prescription-writing permit of any doctor who dispensed marijuana. The
state's political establishment sought, through this year's Proposition 300,
to reverse the 1996 vote. But a majority of voters saw through this
political charade and opposed Proposition 300 by 57 to 43 percent margin.
In Alaska and Oregon, voters approved medical marijuana by similar margins.
By votes of 59 percent to 41 percent, respectively, Nevadans backed a
constitutional amendment approving the use of medical marijuana and
Washington state voters have also endorsed medical marijuana. Most voters
agreed that marijuana-smoking sick people should be treated as patients,
rather than as criminals. On election day, only eight Americans were legally
entitled to smoke marijuana. Now, according to Bill Zimmerman of Americans
for Medical Rights. "There are hundreds of thousands of patients which
could venefit from the medical use of marijuana." Political opposition
stemmed from a combination of ignorance and well-intentioned, if misplaced,
moralism, which argued that medical marijuana promotes drug experimentation
and abuse. Suffice it to say, both the historical and scientific
demonstrate otherwise. Respected opponents have included three former
presidents recruited by Clinton's drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey. "These
initiatives are not based on the best available science," wrote George Bush,
Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford in a "Dear Fellow Citizens" letter. The letter
parroted the standard White House line that there's no official evidence
marijuana helps ease the symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc.
After all, as deputy drug czar Dr. Don Vereen noted, "Smoked marijuana has
not been tested (by the government)." Fortunately, in electoral terms,
medical expertise overcame political intransigence. As Dr. Jerome Kassirer,
editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, wrote last year. "Thousands
of patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained
striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana." He
suggested that, "The argument that it would be a signal to the young that
'marijuana is OK' is specious." This view reflects a medical history dating
to 2727 BC - the first recorded listing -in Chinese pharmocopoeia, of
cannabis as medicine. Revealing, the 1937 prohibition against marijuana
occurred against the advice of the medical community. More recently, in 1988
Judge Francis Young, the DEA's own administrative - law judge, determined
that marijuana had a clearly established medical use and therefore should be
reclassified as a prescriptive drug. The government took no action. The
therapeutic benefits of smoking marijuana are numerous, hence a 1991 Harvard
University survey's finding that 44 percent of oncologists recommended
marijuana to patients suffering from chemotherapy - induced nausea. A 1997
National Institutes of Health panel concluded that smoking marijuana may
help treat a number of conditions, including nausea and pain. The so-called
'wasting syndrome' that afflicts those in the latter stages of AIDS may be
arrested through marijuana's ability to stimulate the appetite. There's also
considerable anecdotal evidence that marijuana relieves some of the painful
symptoms of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. Yes, there's the
potential for harm from smoking marijuana, especially respiratory damage.
These long-term effects are irrelevant, however, to a person who's suffering
a slow, terribly painful death. But, can the US medical marijuana movement
serve as a model for Canadians? Perhaps. What's missing here isn't public
opinion. According to an Angus Reid poll, 83 percent of Canadians believe
medical marijuana use should not be a criminal offense. Most Canadians
share the sentiment of Reform MP Jim Hart, that, "To process, charge and
convict people for medicinal use of marijuana is a blatant waste of limited
resources." Last December, an Ontario court declared the prohibition against
medical marijuana unconstitutional (a decision appealed by the government).
Despite such apparent judicial progress, our legislation remains both
anachronistic and cruel. For what's missing here are the democratic
mechanisms to bypass the political establishment. Journalist Sharon Cohen
writes that, "Americans have spoken out on the basics - life, death and
taxes. And their message to the government is simple, leave us alone!" What
a pity Canadians have yet to be afforded a similar voice.

- - Patrich Basham is Director of the Social Affairs Centre at the Fraser
Institute, a vancouver-based economic think-tank.

Checked-by: Don Beck