SCIENTIFIC PROOF FOR MEDICAL POT

The Federal Government Should Provide Funding to Prove Once and for
All Whether Smoked Marijuana Is Uniquely Effective.

Time and again, the Obama administration has voiced its allegiance to
science on politically controversial issues of environment, energy and
health.

We think the administration ought to be true to this laudable
principle on the question of medical marijuana.

The controversies that have erupted in many states over the
legalization and regulation of medical marijuana could be alleviated
if the federal government sponsored more and better research into the
efficacy of marijuana in treating a variety of medical conditions.

That way, science could trump the half-baked justifications from some
advocates who make all manner of claims about the medicinal powers of
marijuana.

If marijuana were an FDA-approved drug with recognized benefits for
certain, specific medical conditions, it could be prescribed like any
other drug.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency contends prescription Marinol --
which contains THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana -- is an
appropriate substitute for medical marijuana.

The DEA says there are no drugs approved by the Food and Drug
Administration that are smoked. The chemicals and carcinogens that are
byproducts of smoking create a whole new set of health concerns.

Furthermore, the DEA argues that even though morphine is a drug with
significant medical value, the FDA does not suggest smoking opium or
heroin.

However, medical marijuana advocates argue that Marinol doesn't
provide relief to all patients. Some patients find alleviation of
symptoms only from the fuller range of compounds contained in natural
marijuana.

The anecdotal stories from people with serious illnesses are not to be
dismissed. However, it remains an argument without a definitive answer.

Clearly, more research needs to be done.

A New York Times story earlier this month said only a few small-scale
studies have been done, and they are decades old, suggesting that
smoked marijuana can provide relief when Marinol is
ineffective.

The Wall Street Journal also ran a story on this topic this month,
saying an American Medical Association review found there have been
fewer than 20 randomized, clinical trials of smoked marijuana.

In all, the studies involved about 300 people, which is far short of
the typical number required before a drug is approved for widespread
use in the United States.

Much of the difficulty in regulating marijuana derives from the
inability to truly classify it as a medicine. Medical marijuana
occupies a netherworld between homeopathic remedies and federally
approved drugs.

Its complicated status is made even more volatile by the fact that
it's illegal under federal law, yet ensconced in the Colorado state
constitution.

If medical marijuana were a prescription drug, it would fit neatly
into existing regulatory and law enforcement structures.

Now all that's necessary is the science to define its legitimate uses.