HOUSE PANEL AGAINST MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

Congressional Quarterly

WASHINGTON - A House Judiciary subcommittee yesterday approved a
non-binding resolution that would put Congress on record against the
legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Crime subcommittee Chairman Bill McCollum, R-Fla., said Congress needed to
act in the wake of recent state initiatives that allowed doctors to
recommend marijuana to patients.

California and Arizona voters decided in 1996 to permit physicians to
prescribe or recommend marijuana to treat various maladies ranging from
AIDS to nausea from cancer chemotherapy to painful pressure on the eyes
caused by glaucoma. Supporters of legalization say that in many cases,
marijuana is the only drug patients can tolerate to relieve their symptoms.

But McCollum said that allowing marijuana use, even among terminally ill
patients, sends a message to youngsters that marijuana is not dangerous.
McCollum said marijuana has a high potential for abuse and can break down
the immune system.

Federal law bars the use and possession of marijuana, without exception.
The federal government currently considers marijuana to have no scientific
use, and federal and state studies are generally prohibited from using
taxpayer funds to study the effects of the drug, medicinal or otherwise.