MARIJUANA NOT RIGHT MEDICINE

It would be nice to think that medical marijuana laws did nothing
more than provide some compassionate relief for terminally ill patients.

Nice and naive.

As the session in Madison ends, we're relieved that two Democratic
state legislators, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Jon
Erpenbach, D-Waunakee, failed in their efforts to mellow out
anti-drug forces. They proposed a bill that would protect those with
prescriptions for marijuana from prosecution.

We have always sympathized with cancer patients and others whose
debilitating pain warrants such relief. But the recent follies of
other states illustrate the need to strictly control how the pot is given out.

Many of the 14 states that have instituted such laws have learned the
hard way that they're vulnerable to abuse. During a series of busts
last year, California law enforcement agents found authorized
dispensers selling to people whose only ailment was a swollen wallet.

Yet, Pocan and Erpenbach are eager to set up similar nonprofit
"compassion centers." Those would need to be closely monitored, and
does anyone want slimmed-down state government to beef up for a new
oversight role right now?

Perhaps if the task were left in the hands of traditional pharmacies,
which already act as gatekeepers for some otherwise illegal drugs,
the idea would be more palatable here. A new Associated Press-CNBC
poll suggests 6 in 10 Americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical uses.

We're also dubious of vague eligibility categories. Almost one-sixth
of those allowed to smoke pot in the Golden State slip by with
prescriptions for "mood disorders."

A law filled with loopholes can only undermine the anti-drug messages
being conveyed to youths. Marijuana already carries less stigma,
school health officials say, and a proposal to legalize it for
everyone in California threatens to exacerbate that trend.

Besides the well-known health impacts that worsen with lasting use,
research indicates pot smoking paves a path to other, more dangerous
narcotics. Plus the chemicals in marijuana can turn up in tests weeks
after use - costing kids jobs or roster spots on sports teams.

That doesn't sound like a compassionate ending.