ALIGN DRUG LAWS WITH COMMON SENSE

There are two areas of concern Congress needs to deal with immediately
- - marijuana as a medical tool and pharmacists who place their
religious beliefs above their licensed duty.

While these issues don't seem as pressing in the scheme of things as
democratizing Iraq or solving the long-range problems of Social
Security, resolving them quickly might just send a signal that now
and then common sense does prevail in government, a badly needed sign
in these days of prolonged squabbling over legislative procedure.

The Supreme Court decision that those who grow marijuana for their own
medical purposes can't escape federal prosecution even if their state
laws say otherwise is an insult to compassion and sensibility. In its
6-3 vote, the court made no distinction between a homegrown relief for
pain and suffering and a truckload of commercial pot on its way to a
rock 'n' roll concert. To them, it is only a short step between easing
the pain of glaucoma or helping forestall an epileptic seizure or
relieving the pressure of a brain tumor with a daily toke and
becoming an interstate dealer in reefer madness. At least, that's the
basis of the court's decision.

It doesn't seem to me that there is any difference between a
prescription for the use of marijuana for pain than one for a far more
potent drug handed to me recently as result of a kidney stone. I can
guarantee that I could have gotten a heck of a lot more on the street
for that stuff than I could have for a couple of ounces of "Mary Jane."

The court suggested Congress could fix this, taking it out of the
category of states' rights vs. federal government. The lawmakers
should do so immediately.

Equally as pressing and far simpler to resolve is the problem of
pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for items like
birth-control pills or the morning-after drug that offend their
religious sensibilities. Some even have been known to lecture the
turned-away customer with evangelical fervor about the evils of what
they are doing. Fortunately, some states have taken action to remind
these druggists that they have a licensed responsibility to fill a
legitimate prescription. There are bills in both houses of Congress
already that would make this mandatory under federal law.

What a terrible mess if pharmacists had the right to refuse to honor a
doctor's orders because they didn't agree philosophically or
metaphysically. Those who receive the state's blessings to dispense
drugs have an absolute obligation to do so without questioning the
reasons unless they suspect that the prescription was illegally
obtained or there is a pattern of abuse by the doctor. Certainly
putting one's religious beliefs ahead of that duty is outrageous.
Being an anti-abortion-rights druggist doesn't give one the right to
deny service to those who disagree. If they do, the store is not a
legitimate pharmacy and should not be advertised as one. This is
pretty simple.