MEDICAL USE LEGAL BUT RARE

Nearly two decades ago, Virginia passed a law permitting
possession or distribution of marijuana for medical
purposes. Legislation to repeal the law was killed this
year by the General Assembly. The law allows doctors and
pharmacists to prescribe and dispense the drug.

These days, however, doctors in Virginia rarely, if
ever, prescribe pot. Instead, they usually prescribe
Marinol, a pill form of synthetic THC, the active
ingredient in marijuana. It is usually given for nausea or
pain. And even those uses may be going by the wayside. In
the past two years, says Dr. Paul R. Conkling, an
oncologist with offices in Smithfield and Elizabeth City,
new drugs like Zofran and Kytril have shown excellent
results in controlling nausea without the sleepiness or
confusion that often results with Marinol or other
antinausea drugs.