STATE'S PHYSICIANS DEBATE MEDICAL VALUE OF MARIJUANA

* The Oregon Medical Association considers whether to take sides on
proposed ballot measures allowing medical use of the drug and restricting
abortion

GLENEDEN BEACH -- Oregon physicians are deciding whether to weigh in on two
controversial issues headed for voters this fall.

One proposed ballot measure would legalize the use of marijuana for medical
purposes; the other would ban abortions after the first 12 weeks of
pregnancy. On Saturday, the governing body of the Oregon Medical
Association, which represents 5,800 of the state's 8,300 physicians,
wrestled with whether to lend the association's weight in political battles
on the two issues.

The association's governing body, the house of delegates, will vote on
those and other issues this morning.

On Saturday, in sometimes-heated debate, doctors offered widely differing
opinions on the wisdom of legalizing the smoking of marijuana in medical
therapies.

Dr. Charles E. Hofmann of Baker, past president of the OMA, urged the group
to adopt an American Medical Association report recommending a ban on
medical use of smoked marijuana until experiments have proved its
usefulness.

But Dr. Richard Bayer, a Portland internist and a chief petitioner for the
marijuana initiative, told the group that plenty of evidence shows that
smoking marijuana relieves nausea caused by chemotherapy and some symptoms
of pain. He also said it is effective in fighting weight loss in AIDS
patients.

Bayer said he and other physicians have seen enough patients who have
benefited from marijuana that he is convinced of its effectiveness. Bayer
agreed that more study should be done. But the measure would "broker a
peace of sorts while science continues its investigations," he said.

Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, a Portland oncologist and Bayer's wife, echoed his
sentiments.

"I've seen medical marijuana work many times," she said.

Some physicians oppose legalization of medical marijuana because they say
it could open the door to unscientific practices in medicine.

Dr. Kathleen Weaver, medical director for the Oregon Health Plan, said
patients' desire for marijuana shouldn't be a factor in using it for
medical purposes.

"If demand dictates what we use, it will expand into other areas including
alternative medicines," she said. She urged the members to wait until
studies prove that marijuana is safe and effective.

Dr. Esther M. Gwinnell, a Portland psychiatrist, chided opponents of
medical marijuana for maintaining a "superstitious fear" of the drug. She
said fears that using marijuana for medical treatments will foster abuse of
the drug are wildly exaggerated. The most heavily abused drugs are
prescription medications, she said.

"Most of my patients will jump over 75 pounds of marijuana to get to four
Dilaudid pills," she said. Dilaudid is a prescription pain medication. She
reminded the group that the potential for abuse doesn't automatically mean
there are no beneficial uses for a drug.

Some doctors oppose using marijuana because a synthetic drug, Marinol,
which contains one of marijuana's active ingredients, is effective for
reducing nausea in cancer patients.

Dr. Lonnie Bristow, past president of the American Medical Association and
now a consultant for the manufacturer of Marinol, told the group that
Marinol does work for "a substantial number of cases." He said smoking
marijuana has too many unknowns for it to be considered safe. Bristow said
he is donating his consulting fees from Roxane Laboratories, the maker of
Marinol, to medical and nursing schools.

Doctors also spent time discussing the battle about abortion in the general
election.

Dr. Leigh Dolin, a Portland internist and a member of the steering
committee of Pro-Choice Oregon, asked the group to support a resolution to
oppose efforts by Lon Mabon and the Oregon Cititens Alliance to ban
abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Dolin called the proposed measure "an unprecedented attack on the
physician-patient relationship." The choice to terminate a pregnancy should
be made by "the woman herself, possibly in consultation with her physician
- -- not by Lon Mabon and the OCA."

Dr. Zena I.P. Monji, a Eugene obstetrician-gynecologist, warned that the
proposed abortion ban would make it virtually impossible to terminate
pregnancies in cases where tests indicated birth defects, such as Down
syndrome.

As older women choose to have children, she said, tests such as
amniocentesis become increasingly important. Amniocentesis cannot be
performed until after the 12-week cutoff. The risk of having a child with
Down syndrome is one in 350 after age 35, she said.