ILL AMERICANS NEED IT

Imagine there was a nontoxic medication available that provided symptomatic
relief for a litany of serious and life-threatening diseases, including
cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Imagine that thousands of ill
Americans were successfully using this medicine under the supervision of
their physician.

Now imagine that the U.S. government was withholding this medication and
threatening to incarcerate those patients who benefit from its use. We
don't have to imagine such a scenario. The medicine is marijuana, and for
those tens of thousands of Americans who use it therapeutically,
Washington's recalcitrance on this issue is reality.

Fortunately, this attitude may be changing. Thirty-six congressmen,
including Florida Democratic Reps. Alcee Hastings and Robert Wexler, have
sponsored bipartisan legislation to provide for the medical use of cannabis
in accordance with the laws of various states. The bill, HR 2087, -- "The
States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act" -- would reclassify marijuana
under federal law to recognize its medical utility and enable physicians to
legally prescribe it under controlled circumstances.

Most importantly, this legislation would afford patients legal protection
under federal law by rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I (criminally
prohibited drug) to a Schedule II (prescription-only substance) and permit
those states that wish to establish medical marijuana distribution systems
the legal authority to do so. Congressional passage of this legislation is
long overdue.

Since 1996, voters and legislatures in 11 states -- Alaska, California,
Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington --
have passed laws exempting patients who use cannabis under a physician's
supervision from state criminal penalties. These laws do not legalize the
recreational use of marijuana; they merely provide a narrow exemption from
state prosecution for defined patients who possess and use medical cannabis
under their doctor's supervision. So far, available evidence indicates that
these laws are functioning as voters intended and abuses are minimal.

As the success of these statewide campaigns suggests, the American public
clearly distinguishes between the medical use and the recreational use of
cannabis and a large majority support legalizing medical use for seriously
ill patients. A CNN/Time Magazine poll found that 80 percent of Americans
support making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe.
Similar support has been demonstrated among both Democrat and Republican
voters in every state and nationwide poll that has been conducted on the
issue since 1996.

According to a recent national survey of U.S. physicians conducted for the
American Society of Addiction Medicine, nearly half of all doctors with an
opinion on the subject support legalizing marijuana as a medicine.
Moreover, more than 80 state and national health-care organizations,
including the American Nurses Association, American Public Health
Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, support immediate,
legal patient access to medical cannabis.

Inexplicably, the federal government has responded by threatening doctors
with arrest, prosecuting seriously ill patients and stonewalling research
of cannabis' medicinal value. This federal obfuscation must come to an end.

House Bill 2087 is not a mandate from Washington and does not require any
state to amend its current laws. It is a states' rights bill that reflects
the will of the American people as well as the scientific and medical
communities and would allow states to determine for themselves whether
cannabis should be legal for medicinal use.

It is a common-sense solution to a complex issue and deserves congressional
hearings and support. For those thousands of seriously ill patients who
rely on the medicinal use of cannabis, it is unconscionable for Congress to
do otherwise.