ASSEMBLY SHOULD OK MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The government shouldn't bar patients from using a substance that
greatly reduces their pain.

State Attorney General Anne Milgram said last week that legislation
in Trenton that would allow those suffering from AIDS, cancer,
glaucoma and other painful ailments to keep and grow small amounts of
marijuana is workable.

We're glad Milgram's mind is open on this issue and that's she's not
following the same rigid and foolish hard line as the federal government.

The state Senate has already approved the Compassionate Use Medical
Marijuana Act and Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will sign it.

All that's needed is a vote in the state Assembly. The Assembly
should do the same as the Senate and approve it.

There are tens of thousands of Americans -- not drug abusers, but
people suffering real pain from life-threatening diseases -- who
swear by marijuana as the best, sometimes the only, medicine that
takes away their pain and nausea or restores their vision.

We don't think the government has the right to tell these people what
substances they can or cannot use to take away their pain. Americans
who are suffering from terminal diseases should have the freedom to
use whatever works best for their symptoms and specific pains. If
marijuana is what works, so be it.

The legislation in Trenton would mandate that people with
debilitating conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS,
glaucoma and other conditions register with the state Department of
Health and Senior Services and obtain a special photo identification card.

Legally registered users would be allowed to possess up to six
marijuana plants and an ounce of usable marijuana. They would be
barred from driving while under the influence and smoking in most
public areas. These restrictions could easily be enforced the same as
they are today.

Heavy lobbying from several multibillion-dollar industries, including
beer and liquor producers and pharmaceutical firms, has long kept
marijuana classified as a Schedule I drug by the federal government.
That puts it off limits for government research into its medical
qualities and makes it illegal to possess in all forms and quantities.

But state governments have shown they can see things more clearly and
that there can be ways to balance patients' needs with society's
needs. Thirteen states have some version of a medical marijuana
exception to the federal law.

We're confident such an exception can happen in New Jersey, and it
should. The Assembly ought to approve this bill. Let those New
Jerseyans already using marijuana to get through each day without
unbearable pain stop having to hide what they do for fear of
pointless prosecution.