MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKERS STATE THEIR CASE

Medical-marijuana advocates urged state regulators today to let
patients use the drug to treat pain and nausea.

"I know what it's like to crawl around on the bathroom floor like an
animal in the morning, vomiting with my head in the stool," he said.
"I need your help. I'm not here because I want to get high. I'm here
because I want to stop being sick. And I want to stop being persecuted."

Manke was part of a string of witnesses at a medical-marijuana
hearing held by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. The board plans to hold
four such hearings around the state, then make a recommendation to
legislators about whether Iowa should join 13 other states in
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.

The audience of several dozen people clearly tilted toward
legalization. Several physicians joined patients in supporting the
idea. One of them was Dr. Edward Hertko, a retired Des Moines
physician, who said it could help a wide range of patients, including
people suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig's disease and cancer.

He said marijuana is less dangerous and addictive than many prescription drugs.

Hertko said the discussion has nothing to do with drug users who
simply want to get high. "The people who want recreational marijuana
already know how to get it."

Gary Young, a retired Polk County environmental-health official, was
in the minority when he spoke against medical marijuana. Young was
representing the Order of the Elks, which is concerned that
legalization of marijuana for medical uses could make it easier for
people, including minors, to obtain it for recreational uses.

Young countered proponents' studies with references to studies that
found no medical benefit. He said prescription medications are purer
and easier to control than smoked marijuana, which he said has
hundreds of chemicals that vary in strength. "I urge the board to
make its decision on scientific evidence and not on anecdotal
evidence," he said.

The hearing, being held at the State Historical Building, is
scheduled to last until 7 p.m. The board plans to hold three more
hearings around the state.

The federal government still outlaws almost all uses of marijuana,
but the Obama administration has signaled that it would ease up on
enforcement against medical marijuana arrangements in states that allow them.

The board will consider how it would regulate medical use of
marijuana. One way would be to allow sales only through licensed
pharmacies. A vice president of the Iowa Pharmacy Association told
the board that the group would support experiments in which
pharmacies would sell the drug to people who had doctors' prescriptions for it.