EDITORIAL

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

LAWS NEED TO BE FIXED

Marijuana as medicine presents a peculiar problem in Iowa. Some say it's
OK. Some say it's bad. But this is not a debate between hippies and cops,
parents and kids, good and evil. It's between state law and federal law.
The state says medical marijuana is OK. The feds say medical marijuana is
bad.

Who's right? It isn't clear. But it is clear the conflict is causing
problems. It is clear the law ought to be fixed. Iowa law made medical
marijuana legal in 1979, around the time when the federal government set up
a program to provide the drug to qualified applicants with serious medical
disorders.

Those few who remember Iowa's 1979 statehouse debate say the state law was
passed in response to a perceived easing of marijuana regulations on the
federal level. Eventually, 35 states passed similar medical marijuana
laws. Some, like Iowa, went so far as to classify marijuana as a "Schedule
II" drug when used for medical purposes. (The "Schedule" system is how the
government classifies drugs. Schedule I drugs have no identifiable medical
purposes, such as cocaine. Schedule II drugs have some medical purposes,
but access is limited, such as codeine.)

The Iowa law has been in conflict with federal law, which classifies
medical marijuana as Schedule I, for nearly as long as it's been around.
But that mattered little until a few years ago because the federal research
program provided a legal way for patients, Iowa patients included, to get
access to marijuana.

That all changed in 1991, when the federal program, coordinated by the Drug
Enforcement Agency, stopped accepting new applications.

Now, we've got a problem.

The feds stopped giving out medical marijuana except for a handful of
people still exempt under the old program. State law still says Iowans
have an access right to medical marijuana, but now there's no legal way for
patients to get it.

The conflict isn't just a problem on paper. It really puts Iowa judges in
a bind.

Consider a Black Hawk County case over the summer. Allen Helmers was
arrested for violating his probation after he tested positive for
marijuana. Helmers claimed he needed pot because of a rare medical
condition that left him in chronic pain. His doctors, right or wrong, said
smoking pot was indeed justified as a last attempt at treatment. But
Helmers couldn't get a prescription because his doctors faced fines and
even jail time, depending on the amount of pot involved, under federal law.

District Judge Jon Fister took a commonsense approach in his ruling. He
said, Look here, folks: marijuana is legal in the Hawkeye State, but
illegal in the United States. It can't work like that, so we need to fix
the law. The judge left the record open, and Helmers got to stay out of
jail for now.

Judge Fister was exactly right. It does no good for a state law to
contradict a federal law. And that should be fixed.

One of three things has to happen:

* Congress has to downgrade marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II when
it's used for medical purposes.

* Or the state legislature has to upgrade marijuana to Schedule I in all
circumstances.

* Or the state Board of Pharmacy Examiners has to create a federally
approved research program that would allow for the legal distribution of
prescribed marijuana.

It's a tough choice. Each solution has problems.

The problem with Congress is that it isn't going to budge. Some Democrats
would like to loosen marijuana restrictions, but the Republican leadership
isn't about to let pass a measure that looks anything like it's going soft
on drugs.

The problem with the state legislature bowing to federal law is that
respected groups such as the American Medical Association and the National
Institutes of Health say marijuana may indeed be a valid medicine. The pot
lobbies claim marijuana relieves nausea, increases the appetite, reduces
pressure in the eyes, tames muscle spasms and helps users cope with mild to
moderate chronic pain. Even mainstream doctors say pot just may do all
those things, though they would like to see more research.

The problem with the state Board of Pharmacy Examiners creating a research
program (under the guise of research, even pot can find a legal home) is
that it's incredibly hard to do legally. In fact, though 24 states have
passed legislation creating state run research programs, including Iowa,
none are currently operating. Many programs ran out of money; others had
trouble complying with strict federal guidelines and some states repealed
the legislation.

Medical marijuana critics say there's [a] fourth option, but that's a
matter of debate. Doctors can prescribe a gel capsule called "marinol,"
which is billed as an acceptable substitute to smoking marijuana. Marinol
is one of the active ingredients in marijuana. But each puff of pot
contains more than 400 chemicals, only one of which is marinol. That
means, not surprisingly, that marinol doesn't work for everybody. And
though marinol is classified as Schedule II, the Drug Enforcement Agency
has placed special restrictions on its availability. Consequently, it's
very rare for a doctor to prescribe marinol.

There simply are no easy answers.

But because there will certainly be more judges like Judge Fister who are
put in the awkward position of interpreting conflicting laws, both state
and federal lawmakers are duty bound to take up the issue.

Lawmakers should put aside the politics and the emotions and deal with the
issue.

They have three choices, all somewhat flawed. There are arguments in favor
of each, though it's tough to argue against letting Iowans determine what
is legal in Iowa.

Still, maybe some top federal officials who have experience in this area
could forge a compromise.

Maybe they could say it's OK to use marijuana medicinally.

If you promise not to inhale.