CONGRESS CAN CHANGE MEDICAL POT LAWS EASILY

On June 6, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can
continue arresting patients for using medical marijuana in compliance with
state medical marijuana laws. But the court did not overturn state medical
marijuana laws or in any way interfere with their continued operation.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court indicated that Congress -- not the court
- -- must be the institution to change federal law to protect AIDS, cancer
and other medical marijuana patients from arrest. Soon, Congress will get
the chance

Although some media reports have failed to make this clear, the validity of
the medical marijuana laws of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington were never at issue in the
Supreme Court case, Gonzales v. Raich. These laws protecting patients from
arrest and jail under state law remain in full force and effect.

The court has continued the status quo as it has existed since California
passed the first of 10 state medical marijuana laws in 1996: Patients and
caregivers in these states who legitimately possess or grow medical
marijuana are protected under state law, but are not exempt from
prosecution under federal anti-drug statutes.

This is unfortunate. No one fighting for their life and dignity against an
illness like cancer, AIDS or multiple sclerosis should have to live in fear
of arrest simply for using a medicine that lessens their suffering.

But all is not lost. Federal authorities make only 1 percent of the more
than 700,000 marijuana arrests made annually in the U.S. Ninety-nine out of
100 marijuana arrests are made by state and local police enforcing state
and local laws.

In practical terms, state medical marijuana laws reduce patients' risk of
arrest by 99 percent. That isn't perfect, but it is real and substantial.

Although other court cases focusing on other legal issues will move
forward, it's safe to assume for now that patients cannot count on the
federal courts for protection. This makes the path clear for officials at
all levels.

First, the Bush administration should realize that just because it can
arrest the sick and suffering, it can choose not to. The administration can
listen to the public and the medical community and end this cruel war on
the sick now. In a 1997 editorial, the editor-in-chief of the New England
Journal of Medicine called the federal ban on the medical use of marijuana
"misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane," and that judgment is as true today
as it was then.

Sadly, there is no indication that the administration will change course,
which means Congress must change federal law. Many Americans don't realize
that the federal ban on the medical use of marijuana was not put in place
by the Food and Drug Administration or any medical or public health agency.
The ban was enacted by Congress, and Congress can change it.

Congress will soon have the chance to use its spending authority to stop
the Drug Enforcement Administration from attacking medical marijuana
patients and caregivers in states that allow medical use. Representatives
Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, offered
such an amendment Tuesday when the appropriations bill to fund the Justice
Department reached the House floor. By passing the Hinchey-Rohrabacher
amendment, Congress can stop these pointless attacks on patients.

Finally, state officials must continue to do everything they can to protect
patients under state law. In states with medical marijuana laws, this means
continuing to implement those laws exactly as before. And in states without
such laws, legislators must realize that they are the best hope for sick
and suffering patients. They must act now to protect patients under state law.

Make no mistake: The Raich decision is disappointing to anyone who has
compassion for the seriously ill, but it doesn't set us back; it simply
maintains the status quo.

The day will come -- soon -- when Americans will look back at our current
policy of arresting patients for using medical marijuana and see it as
every bit as bizarre and incomprehensible as the laws that used to call for
the burning of witches.

- -- Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project,
http://www.mpp.org, in in Washington, D.C.