VALUE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS IN THE EYES OF THE INHALER

TO INHALE or not to inhale, that's the question. Whether it's nobler
to embrace marijuana as a wonder drug or say out loud what so many
others think: What's up with this scam, anyway?

A proposal for a medical marijuana dispensary is the latest
controversy to visit Walnut Creek -- perhaps it could be part of the
new Neiman Marcus store -- and awaits a ruling from the City Council.
But this issue just as easily could land anywhere in California, which
became the first state to legalize medical pot with the passage of
Proposition 215 in 1996.

Dale Gieringer, one of the sponsors of Prop 215, makes no secret of
where he stands.

"There are literally thousands and thousands of doctors in California
who have recommended marijuana for medicine," he said.

Gieringer, who holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in economics policy
analysis, is the director of the California office of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and he vouches for its
medicinal value.

According to a book he cowrote, the Medical Marijuana Handbook, a few
puffs can offer relief from just about every ailment from malaria to
athlete's foot. His book claims that marijuana helps regulate
immunity, inflammation, trauma, blood pressure, body temperature,
gastrointestinal function, analgesia, glaucoma, epilepsy and bone formation.

Bothered by arthritis? Try some marijuana.

Parkinson's disease? Marijuana again.

HIV? Hepatitis C? Morning sickness? Marijuana is the answer for all
three.

It was mentioned to the good doctor that this one-size-fits-all cure
seems vaguely reminiscent of scene from a TV western in which the
snake-oil salesman puts up a tent.

"I'm sort of amazed myself at the list of conditions it treats," he
said, unapologetically.

He said he has received countless unsolicited calls from sufferers of
all manner of ailments, each swearing to the drug's healing powers.
Then again, if they were smoking marijuana, maybe they didn't know
what they were saying.

"We don't recommend smoking so much as vaporizing," Gieringer
corrected. "You get a more immediate relief."

Gieringer explained that 12 other states have followed California's
lead in legalizing the drug, including most recently Michigan (in
2008) and New Mexico (2007). The rest of the pot club -- Vermont, Rhode
Island, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Washington and
Alaska -- stand ready to testify to the program's value (although we
don't recommend calling Alaska to the stand; it thought Sarah Palin
was a good idea).

Because a half-full glass is also half-empty, there is a flip side to
this discussion. If marijuana's powers are so undeniable, why have 37
states not voted for legalization?

"Because most of those states don't have the initiative process,"
Gieringer said. "If your state doesn't have the initiative, the
decision is in the hands of the legislators, and legislators, as
usual, are behind the times when it comes to public opinion."

When it comes to opinions on medical marijuana, though, they are
widely divided.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Rep. Ron Paul, D-Tex., and former U.S.
Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders are among those in favor, according to
the Web site ProCon.org.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay
Gupta and Dr. Henry Miller, formerly of the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, are opposed.

Commander Norm Wielsch of the Contra Costa County Narcotics
Enforcement Team is less absolute. He said he has no problem with the
state law, just with those who abuse it.

"If somebody is very sick, dying from cancer or some incurable
illness," he said, "I say give them what they need. But what we've
seen from people who have medical marijuana cards is a lot of times
they are 18- and 19-year-old kids, seemingly in good health, who say
they have migraine headaches or irritable bowel syndrome. Just the
other day, we picked up a gang member with a medical marijuana card.
Some of these guys are not doing it for medical purposes. They're
doing it to get high."

Many of us who sit on the sideline -- and we outnumber medical
marijuana users in California about 99 to 1 -- have a hard time taking
the whole issue seriously.

We're reminded of a college friend who fought off bad colds with two
shots of Jack Daniel's and a good night's sleep. He used to refer to
this as medical whiskey.