EDITORIAL: ON A HIGHER NOTE

Physicians Should Be Able To Prescribe Marijuana Legally

A bipartisan group of state representatives is working to introduce a bill
allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. If passed, the bill
would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana for patients, who then could
obtain the drug legally. The bill also stipulates the conditions patients
must meet before a prescription may be given.

The lead author of the bill, Rep. Gregg Underheim, R-Oshkosh, started
writing the legislation after he was diagnosed and treated for prostate
cancer. Underheim said by passing the bill, people with painful conditions
such as cancer or multiple sclerosis will be able to benefit from the
relief marijuana can provide.

Currently, federal law does not permit medical marijuana. However, several
states, including California, have passed legislation legalizing the drug
for medical purposes.

States such as Wisconsin and California are taking a step in the right
direction by approving marijuana's use for medicinal purposes. Thousands of
people's pain could be alleviated if they had access to this drug.

While it's understood that federal law supercedes that of state
governments, states show an important opinion when they support legalizing
marijuana for medical uses. Preemptive measures such as these state bills
are necessary to show the federal government that it needs to change.

While marijuana is an illegal drug now, we should stop pigeonholing it in
this category. As a country, we constantly make arbitrary distinctions
between which drugs are OK because they're prescribed and which ones aren't
because they're illegal. The fact is many prescription drugs have more
hazardous effects, if taken without the supervision of a physician, than
marijuana.

Additionally, a prescription policy would track those who can legally use
marijuana, because people can't fake a terminal illness.

To allow a cancer patient to use marijuana in the privacy of his or her own
home won't hurt anyone. It will simply make a dying man or woman's last
days a bit more bearable.