BOTH SIDES: MEDICAL MARIJUANA WOULD HELP MANY WHO ARE SUFFERING

This may well be the year the Minnesota Legislature passes
legislation to allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana
without fear of arrest. Despite the scare stories you may have heard,
that would be a good thing for all Minnesotans.

Scientifically, there is simply no longer any question that marijuana
can relieve symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and certain types of
pain that inflict great misery on thousands of our fellow citizens
battling a variety of illnesses, from cancer and AIDS to severe pain
from devastating injuries. That's why medical organizations like the
American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine,
American Nurses Association and Minnesota Nurses Association support
safe and legal access to medical marijuana for the seriously ill.

That's why a coalition of experts, including the Lymphoma Foundation
of America and the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious
Diseases Society of America wrote, in a brief filed with the U.S.
Supreme Court, "For certain persons the medical use of marijuana can
literally mean the difference between life and death. At a minimum,
marijuana provides some seriously ill patients the gift of relative
health and the ability to function as productive members of society."

Amazingly, some opponents still deny the growing mass of medical
evidence. Others have tried to frighten the public with side issues
and red herrings.

They talk, for example, about the hazards of smoking, while failing
to mention that marijuana does not need to be smoked to be used as
medicine. More and more patients are using vaporization -- technology
that provides the same fast action and precise dose control as
smoking, but without the hazards of smoke.

Or they'll tell you that that the legislation has inadequate controls
and will somehow flood Minnesota with marijuana, failing to mention
that in the 13 states with medical marijuana laws, no such thing has happened.

In fact, Minnesota's legislation has some of the toughest controls in
the country, similar to the successful laws in states like Montana
and Rhode Island. Eligible patients will be monitored through a
statewide registration system, and anyone misusing their registration
card will face felony prosecution -- more severe than the standard
petty misdemeanor penalties for illegal marijuana possession.

Most importantly, we now have real-world experience with medical
marijuana laws in 13 states, containing nearly one quarter of the
U.S. population. They work. And they don't cause an increase in
marijuana use or any of the other problems you may have heard dire
warnings about.

For example, in Vermont, the state government surveyed law
enforcement statewide to determine impact of that state's medical
marijuana law. The responses were amazingly consistent, with 90 of
police managers surveyed reporting that their department had "not
incurred any additional costs as a result of the law." Eighty-four
percent said the law had "not made it more difficult to enforce drug
laws," and 74 percent believed that the law had "not contributed to
an increase in illegal marijuana use."

When Rhode Island's legislature first passed its medical marijuana
law in 2006, it gave the measure a sunset clause, requiring a review
and re-authorization after one year in order to keep the law in
effect. In 2007, legislators voted to make the law permanent by an
even larger margin than it had passed by in the first place --
majorities of more than four to one in both houses. Does anyone
really think that would have happened if the doomsday scenarios
predicted by opponents had come true?

There is simply no excuse for further delay. This must be the year we
pass medical marijuana legislation and stop using our scarce law
enforcement resources to arrest suffering patients for seeking
physician-recommended relief.