HIGH MINDED

With Advocates Energized and the Tide of Public and Scientific
Opinion Turning in Their Favor, New York State Considers Legislation
to Legalize Medical Marijuana

It was snowing on the evening of March 9, 2001, as Dave Lawson was
driving his band's GM Astro to a gig in Vermont. Carrying the
instruments and one other band member, Lawson was going a cautious 40
miles in Troy when another vehicle pulled into the intersection
directly in front of him. Unable to stop on the slick road, Lawson
says that he hit the car on the passenger side. Everything that
happened directly after that is fuzzy. Mostly what Lawson remembers
are the years of rehabilitation and persistent pain that followed.

"The bass guitar came flying up from the back of the vehicle. It hit
the back of my head, fractured my skull and forced my face into the
steering wheel so that, at the point of impact, I hit at 120 mph. The
bone that separates the eye from the temple basically disintegrated.
I fractured my sternum, both clavicles, C5 and C6 in my spine and all
of my ribs," Lawson said. "My left arm came out of the socket and
went back in the wrong way. I should have died."

The accident, which was found to be the other driver's fault, left
Lawson with some brain damage and chronic pain caused by damage to his nerves.

"I could barely talk," he recalls. "I felt like I was relearning the
language. I had to think about making my limbs move. I had to think
about what I actually had to do to get out of bed." The painkillers
he was given did little to dull the worst pain, according to Lawson,
but they did dull his mental faculties so that communication and
recovery became even more difficult. "Aspirin is it. That's as much
pain medication as I can take, otherwise it's like I've taken a
rufee," he says, referring to the notorious date-rape drug.

The pain was still debilitating seven months after his accident when,
"all of the sudden, one day I had a flash," Lawson says. He
remembered a day about a year earlier when he had been helping to
make marijuana brownies for a friend who had skin cancer and used the
cannabis plant to deal with the side effects of his treatment. As he
handled the mixture of marijuana and butter that went into the batch,
his hands went numb. Lawson, who has arthritis from decades of
playing the guitar, suddenly felt no pain. "I think there's a reason
that I had that memory when I did." He pauses. "And I'm glad that I did."

"At the time, I happened to have some [cannabis-infused] oil that had
been given to me. I put some on my shoulder and for the first time in
seven months, I felt relief."

"There is a danger," he adds, chuckling at the memory. "I jumped up
and down and hurt my arm again because I was so excited. I literally cried."

Lawson is just one of many New Yorkers advocating for legislation
that would allow for the legal prescription of medical marijuana to
patients suffering from severe or chronic ailments in New York
state--legislation that already has been passed by two state Senate
committees this year and is currently included in the much-contested
state budget. Some of these advocates are patients, some have watched
a friend or family member suffer, and some simply believe that the
benefits of medicinal marijuana far outweigh any of the perceived
dangers. And they argue that many of the prescription drugs that are
currently legal have far more deleterious effects on patients and
pose much greater potential for abuse.

The idea of legalizing medical marijuana in New York state is nothing
new. In 1980, New York actually passed a medical marijuana bill at
the urging of Manhattan Democratic Assemblyman Antonio Olivieri.
After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Olivieri began smoking
cannabis in 1979 to combat the adverse effects of his chemotherapy
treatments and lobbied other politicians by phone when he was too
sick to leave his home. Federal law required states to distribute
marijuana exclusively through research channels, and the New York
State Health Department dispensed thousands of joints to more than
200 patients suffering either from glaucoma or cancer between 1982
and 1989. Twenty-four other states ran similar research programs
during the same time. The Reagan administration's renewed
preoccupation with America's "war on drugs" in the mid- to late '80s,
along with inadequately organized programs and the appearance of
Marinol--THC in pill form, which is now widely considered
ineffective--led to the closure of every state-run medical marijuana
program by 1990.

State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, from Chelsea, raised the issue
again in 1997. Already a proponent of the use of medical marijuana,
he took a cue from the 1996 legislation passed in California and
became vocal on behalf of the many AIDS patients in his district.
Opposed in the Senate by Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and on the
federal level by the Clinton administration, the idea of legalization
was still too politically controversial for the bill to achieve any
measurable success. While champions of its medical use continued to
lobby, the stigma of marijuana as a "gateway drug" loomed large and
continued to overshadow any discussion of its medicinal benefits.

More recently, as public perception has shifted back toward cautious
acceptance and scientific curiosity, advocates in New York state are
organizing once again. Encouraged by the successful passage of
similar legislation in 14 states (from Alaska and Oregon in the late
1990s to Michigan and New Jersey in the last two years), local
grassroots supporters have joined forces with national lobbying
groups in an effort to convince legislators to support their cause.
The Internet has helped to make the benefits of medical marijuana
more generally known and accepted, while the possible economic boon
that taxation could provide for states has made legalization far more
attractive in recent years. Lending legitimacy to the movement, but
doing little more than reinforcing what many people claim to have
known for years, results from the first comprehensive research done
in the United States on the medical efficacy of marijuana since the
'80s were recently released by the University of California at San
Diego. The results are in keeping with generally accepted wisdom from
earlier research as well as research done in other nations--some of
which spans an astonishing amount of time--and focus primarily on
pain, neurological issues and different delivery methods.

Documentation on the medical uses of marijuana dates back to the 28th
century B.C.E., according to literature provided by the organization
Marijuana Policy Project, which is based on a book by Ernest L. Abel
called Marihuana: The First Twelve Thousand Years. "Emperor Shen-Nung
prescribed it to treat beri-beri, constipation, 'female weakness,'
gout, malaria, rheumatism and absentmindedness. It's use as a
medicine was well documented in China, but its use as a recreational
drug was not condoned." Five thousand years later, the arguments are
pretty much the same.

Dr. Abraham Halpern, a psychiatrist from Westchester County, read
about the uses of medical marijuana a few years ago, but he began
looking for more credible information when his son, an assistant
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, "insisted that
there was merit to the use of marijuana in certain illnesses."
Halpern's interest increased when he learned that the Drug
Enforcement Administration had been raiding homes of seriously ill patients.

"I am interested in its use to treat patients suffering severe
symptoms, such as the intolerable pain in patients with meta-static
cancer, symptoms that have not responded to conventional treatment
but do obtain relief from marijuana," Halpern says. "The notion that
such use can be dangerous is utterly ridiculous. Raising the issue of
'danger' is just a red herring. Some experts succeed in using scare
tactics by raising issues such as the possible adverse effects on
young people, the possible eventual shift from marijuana to the use
of dangerous illegal drugs, possible cognitive impairment in some
users, et cetera. None of these things have anything to do with
medical marijuana. In fact, studies have shown that in states that
have legalized medical marijuana, the incidence of marijuana use in
young people has dropped. What I am interested in is the legalization
of medical marijuana, properly regulated."

Halpern is one of 1,170 doctors in New York state who have signed a
statement "supporting the right of doctors to recommend marijuana for
medical purposes, and the right of patients to use marijuana for
medical purposes without fear of incarceration." Medical
organizations that support legislation include the American Academy
of HIV Medicine, American Public Health Association, Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society, Lymphoma Foundation of America, Medical Society of
the State of New York, New York State AIDS Advisory Council, New York
State Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society, New York State Nurses
Association and the New York State Hospice and Palliative Care
Association. The biggest concern of these medical professionals is
the quality of life available to patients who are suffering from
acute and debilitating conditions, suffering that they believe could
be dramatically alleviated through the regulated use of cannabis.

"My wife had ovarian cancer and passed away in 2007," says Dr.
Dominick DiFabio of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. "While she was on
chemotherapy, she had no appetite, she was nauseous all the time, and
the doctor recommended marijuana but could only give it to her in
pill form--Marinol--which was pretty useless. It made her feel weird
but didn't do what smoking marijuana would have done, which would
have been to help her appetite and decrease the nausea. It was just
such a terrible thing in a country like this where doctors can write
prescriptions for much more dangerous drugs that are legal for
medical reasons. I guess one could go out illegally and get it, but
we never thought of that."

"It was very frustrating and, living through the experience, it just
didn't make any sense. I'm not necessarily for legalizing marijuana
in general, but for someone who is sick and can benefit from it, for
someone who's suffering . . ." DiFabio's voice trails off as he
remembers his wife, Susan. "With most of these politicians, my
understanding is that they know people with cancer, that they've seen
this. But they don't have the political courage to do what's right
because they're afraid, I think, of getting blamed for things that
might happen once they do it, if it does get abused."

DiFabio worries that the current national push to legalize marijuana
for general use will have the unintended effect of jeopardizing
support for medical marijuana. He is concerned that any perception
that medical marijuana legislation could lead to the legalization of
its recreational use would only provide ammunition to the same people
who "are going crazy over a health care bill that's going to benefit
them because it's been distorted by the extreme right." He worries
that such distorted perceptions could impede the acceptance of
marijuana as a medication.

"The suffering, you know, I've seen it firsthand, and that's really
why I've become involved with this. Anything that can keep you on the
medication, if the medication is working, is great. My wife was so
sick that they had to change the treatment protocol for us,
eventually. It limits the amount of treatment a doctor can give,
because a patient can't be so sick all the time. The quality of life
gets so bad that you just want immediate relief."

Joel Peacock, a Conservative Party member from Buffalo, is an
advocate and potential beneficiary of the legalization of medical
marijuana. Like Lawson, Peacock was in a car accident in 2001. He was
rear-ended by someone who was talking on a cellular phone, and he
sustained severe spinal injuries (he had three discs removed from his
neck), which have left him in chronic pain. Peacock encountered
marijuana as a painkiller by accident.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf of Mexico, Peacock found
part-time work as a consultant evaluating damage to the area.

"While I was down there," he says, "I ran out of my prescriptions and
there weren't any hospitals open in New Orleans, there weren't any
clinics, nothing. I couldn't get anyone to write my prescriptions,
and I ran out." Peacock was going through a painful withdrawal when
he was sent to Miami. He was sent to survey a damaged home where he
says the resident kept asking if he was a police officer. "About
halfway through the inspection," Peacock remembers, "he asked me what
was wrong with me. He said I looked pale, that I looked sick."

Peacock explained his situation to the man who, after reconfirming
that he was not a cop, said, "I've got something that will make you
feel better." He offered Peacock a small bag with marijuana in it.
"As sick as I was, I went back to my hotel and sat in my car and
smoked some, and the pain went away. I waited for something to
happen--because I hadn't smoked marijuana since I was 21--and I
couldn't believe it, that the pain was just gone. My normal medicine
gives me cramps and lots of other side effects and there was none of that."

Peacock has not smoked marijuana since he returned from his trip. He
can't. He is drug tested for recreational drugs by his doctor and, if
he ever tests positive, he will be ineligible for treatment under New
York state law. "I can't take that chance. I have to stay on my
prescriptions. I'm 59 years old, I wouldn't even begin to know where
to buy that stuff in Buffalo," he says, adding that he believes it
would be considerably less expensive than the prescription drugs that
he is currently struggling to afford. "The retail cost of my pain
medication is $3,200 a month, and this marijuana I had did the same
thing and probably costs a fraction of the narcotics that I take. So,
am I an advocate? You bet! I hope they pass it, I really do."

Unlike Lawson, who is able to obtain enough cannabis (though he will
not say how) to alleviate his pain and allow him to attend school and
continue to play in his band, Peacock is unable to work due to his
pain and the side effects of the prescription drugs that he currently
takes. "The pain just got the best of me," he says resignedly. "I
just finally ran into a wall, and I couldn't do it anymore. I can't
travel. I'm stuck in the house most of the time because the pain is
brutal." Currently, Peacock says his wife is unable to retire, as her
insurance is the only way that they can manage the medical bills.

Currently, marijuana is approved to treat a limited number of severe
conditions in states that have legalized its medical use. Glaucoma is
an accepted condition in nearly every legalized state (excepting only
Vermont) because of marijuana's ability to reduce pressure in the eye
and slow, if not completely halt, progression of the disease. Other
widely accepted conditions include: cancer, AIDS, cachexia, severe or
chronic pain, severe or chronic nausea, seizure disorders and muscle
spasticity disorders. Although approved by fewer states, other
conditions for which marijuana has been deemed useful include:
Crohn's disease, hepatitis C, arthritis, migraines and the agitation
of Alzheimer's disease. Some interesting studies suggest that proper
use of medicinal marijuana can dramatically slow the progression of
Alzheimer's.

Every legalized state has different legislation dictating possession,
access, fees and so on. Most states allow for the possession of small
amounts of marijuana and a certain number of plants. Many charge fees
to patients for required ID cards. Organizations that are allowed to
disseminate the drug are also regulated by state law. Comparatively,
the legislation under consideration in New York is quite strict in
terms of access and possession.

The bill currently under consideration requires that patients must be
certified by a medical practitioner, have a severely debilitating or
life-threatening condition, and stand to benefit from the use of
medical marijuana. Certifications will be good for only one year and
must appear in the patient's medical record. Doctors may not
prescribe for themselves. And the Department of Health, for a fee
that has yet to be announced, will issue ID cards. Patients (or their
designated caregiver) are allowed up to only 2.5 ounces at any given
time and will not be allowed to keep any plants. Organizations
registered to distribute the prescribed cannabis must apply for and
receive approval by NYS-DOH after meeting strict qualifications. The
law also provides for research into the effectiveness of the
prescribed marijuana, with a report to be submitted at the end of one
year. Subsequent reports are expected biannually.

Dave Lawson gets emotional when he talks about the many people in
pain who be believes could be helped by the legalization of medical
marijuana. He knows that, without it, he would likely not be in
school or still playing with his band. Lawson considers himself
fortunate to be able to manage his pain in a way that allows him to
continue to live his life, and he has dedicated himself to efforts to
make the same relief available to others. "Marijuana shouldn't be
illegal," he says with passion. "The fact that there are people out
there dying and that marijuana would help them. What is this country
scared of? That they are going to get better or that it might kill
them? So many of these people are already dying, for god's sake. And
this would only make it easier. It just makes me angry."

[sidebars]

AS AMERICAN AS POT BROWNIES

In a telephone poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post in
January, support for the legalization of medical marijuana in the
United States was found to have increased significantly in the last 10 years:

. 81 percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana for
medical use, up from 69 percent in 1997.

. 56 percent believe that, if legalized, medical practitioners should
be able to prescribe medical marijuana to any patient that they think
would benefit; 21 percent think it should be limited to the
terminally ill; and another 21 percent would limit it to those with
serious, but not necessarily terminal, illnesses.

. 68 percent of conservatives and 72 percent of Republicans are in
favor of legalization for medical purposes, as are 85 percent of
Democrats and independents, and about 90 percent of liberals and moderates.

. Only 69 percent of seniors favor legalization of medical marijuana,
compared with 83 percent of adults under the age of 65.

IT DEPENDS WHAT STATE YOU'RE IN

Alaska

Conditions: Cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, seizures,
glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other disorders
characterized by muscles spasticity and nausea.

Regulations: 1 ounce and no more than 6 plants, of which only 3 may be mature.

California

Conditions: AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic
pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, multiple
sclerosis, seizures, epilepsy, severe nausea and other chronic
medical symptoms.

Regulations: 8 ounces and/or 6 mature plants, unless recommended by a
physician.

Colorado

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, cachexia, severe pain or
nausea, seizures, epilepsy, persistent muscle spasms, multiple
sclerosis. Other conditions are subject to approval.

Regulations: 2 ounces and no more than 6 plants, of which only 3 may be mature.

Hawaii

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, cachexia, wasting syndrome,
severe pain or nausea, seizures, epilepsy, severe and persistent
muscle spasms, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease. Other conditions
subject to approval.

Regulations: 3 mature plants, 4 immature plants, and 1 ounce of
useable marijuana per mature plant.

Maine

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's, nail-patella
syndrome, chronic intractable pain, cachexia, wasting syndrome,
severe nausea, seizures, muscles spasms and multiple sclerosis.

Regulations: 2.5 ounces.

Michigan

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's, nail patella,
cachexia, wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain or nausea,
seizures, epilepsy, muscle spasms and multiple sclerosis.

Regulations: 2.5 ounces and up to 12 plants, kept in a locked facility.

Montana

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, cachexia, wasting syndrome,
severe or chronic pain or nausea, seizures, epilepsy, severe or
persistent muscle spasms, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and any
other condition adopted by the department by rule.

Regulations: 1 ounce and 6 plants.

Nevada

Conditions: AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, cachexia, persistent muscle
spasms or seizures, severe nausea or pain. Other conditions subject
to approval.

Regulations: 1 ounce, 3 mature plants, 4 immature plants.

New Jersey

Conditions: Seizure disorder, epilepsy, intractable skeletal muscle
spasticity, glaucoma, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea or
vomiting, cachexia or wasting syndrome resulting from HIV/AIDS or
cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, terminal
cancer, muscular dystrophy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's
disease, terminal illness if the prognosis is less than 1 year, and
any other approved medical condition.

Regulations: Prescribed. Maximum amount is 2 ounces in 30 days.

New Mexico

Conditions: Severe chronic pain, painful peripheral neuropathy,
intractable nausea/vomiting, severe anorexia/cachexia, hepatitis C,
Crohn's disease, PTSD, ALS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis,
damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable
spasticity, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and hospice patients.

Regulations: 6 ounces, 4 mature plants and 12 seedlings.

Oregon

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, cachexia, severe pain or
nausea, seizures, epilepsy, persistent muscle spasms, multiple
sclerosis. Other conditions subject to approval.

Regulations: 24 ounces and 6 mature plants.

Rhode Island

Conditions: Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, chronic or
debilitating disease (or medical condition or treatment) causing
cachexia, wasting syndrome, chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures,
epilepsy, muscle spasms, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease,
Alzheimer's. Other conditions subject to approval.

Regulations: 2.5 ounces and up to 12 plants; primary caregivers may
possess up to 5 ounces and 24 plants.

Vermont

Conditions: Cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, or any other
disease resulting in chronic, debilitating symptoms producing severe
pain, nausea, seizures, cachexia or wasting syndrome.

Regulations: 2 ounces, 2 mature plants and 7 immature plants.

Washington

Conditions: Cachexia, cancer, Crohn's disease, Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS,
epilepsy, glaucoma, intractable pain and multiple sclerosis, diseases
that result in nausea, vomiting, wasting, appetite loss, cramping,
seizures, muscle spasms or spasticity. Other conditions subject to approval.

Regulations: 24 ounces and no more than 15 plants.