DON'T BAR A PAIN KILLER OK'D BY VOTERS

Marijuana: U.S. action would deprive sufferers of AIDS, cancer and other
illnesses of a beneficial substance.

For San Francisco resident Dixie Romagno, something as simple as taking a
shower or climbing stairs can make her double over in excruciating pain.
Dixie is in her 20th year of chronic multiple sclerosis. To alleviate the
agonizing bone pain, spasms and spinal cord problems that wrack her body,
this 46-year-old grandmother of two uses marijuana. Five million
Californians backed her right to do so when they approved a 1996 ballot
measure that allows the use of marijuana for people who suffer from AIDS,
cancer and other serious illnesses.

In San Francisco, we've worked hard to honor that right by making marijuana
obtainable through a dispensary clinic that operates with the cooperation
of local authorities.

But now the federal government wants to take away that right. In January,
the Justice Department filed a civil suit to shut down six medical
marijuana dispensaries in Northern California, including the San Francisco
Marijuana Cultivators Club, which Dixie, along with 8,000 other ailing
Californians, depend on for their medicine.

The Justice Department views the suit as a simple case of state law
tangling with the supremacy of federal law. "The issue is not the medical
use of marijuana," U.S. Atty. Michael Yamaguchi has said. "It's about the
persistent violation of federal law."

But as mayor of a city that has seen more than its share of people
suffering and dying from AIDS, I know that's not the end of the issue. The
debate over medical marijuana is, above all else, about compassion for
people in pain. Enforcing a law for its own sake can still cause unintended
harm to innocent persons. The closure of cannabis patient clubs would force
individuals like Dixie to suffer needless agony. Many will be compelled to
buy their medicine from the streets. This would endanger their lives and
place undue burden on local law enforcement whose time would be better
spent pursuing real criminals, not desperate patients.

In San Francisco and in cities across the state, local health and police
officials have worked with medical marijuana dispensaries to ensure that
they operate in the spirit of the law. Controls have been encouraged and
implemented to guard against abuse, including the use of standardized
medical forms from doctors and photo identification cards certifying
legitimate patients. The current system isn't perfect. But until marijuana
is approved by the Federal Drug Administration as a prescription drug,
California's medical marijuana dispensaries are a viable medical
alternative.

Many of the tens of thousands of patients who use marijuana do so often as
a last resort when all other prescribed medicines have failed, or produce
side effects that cancel out their benefits. Most of them can't cultivate
their own marijuana; that's why they rely on the clubs. Rather than censure
this public health crisis with a lawsuit, the Justice Department should
urge the Clinton administration to work with local and state governments to
implement a plan for distributing medical marijuana that complies with both
federal and state law and that puts the needs of patients first. The
California Senate is reviewing a bill to establish a task force that would
research and make recommendations about the safe and affordable
distribution of marijuana to patients in medical need.

In December, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is
expected to release the results of a study that will report on marijuana's
medical effectiveness. These initiatives are promising, but the process
will take time. In the interim, the federal government should impose a
moratorium on enforcement of marijuana laws that interfere with the locally
regulated operation of cannabis patient clubs and allow patients access to
their medicine. Californians with life-threatening diseases shouldn't have
to suffer while their elected representatives work to find a middle ground
between local discretion and federal supremacy.

- - - - Willie L. Brown Jr. Is the Mayor of San Francisco

Copyright Los Angeles Times