TIME TO ACT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The recent introduction of medical marijuana bills by of 60 percent of the
Rhode Island General Assembly gives me great hope. As an advocate for people
living with HIV and AIDS and as executive director of the oldest AIDS
organization in Rhode Island, I have seen how important this bill is.

AIDS Project Rhode Island is just one of many groups and medical experts
supporting this sensible, humane legislation. We are joined by the Rhode
Island Medical Society, the Rhode Island State Nurses Association and Dr.
Kenneth Mayer, head of the Brown University AIDS Program, among many others.

It simply makes no sense to subject people living with HIV/AIDS - or other
devastating illnesses like cancer or multiple sclerosis - to arrest and jail
for trying to relieve some of the suffering caused by their condition. And
the evidence is clear that medical marijuana provides real relief.

For people living with HIV/AIDS, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite -
often caused by the harsh drugs used to keep the virus in check - are so
serious they can literally be life threatening. A study published in
December 2003 in the "Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes" found
that these drug side effects are the leading reason that people with AIDS
discontinue anti-HIV treatment.

Marijuana relieves nausea and vomiting, making it possible for some patients
to stay on the medicines that keep them alive. This January, the "Journal of
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes" published a study showing that
patients suffering nausea from their AIDS drug cocktails stay on their
therapy more consistently when using marijuana.

There is no real doubt that marijuana helps some for whom conventional
anti-nausea drugs fail. In a 1999 study commissioned by the White House, the
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences reported, "Nausea,
appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can
be mitigated by marijuana."

Since then, the evidence has continued to mount. In a study conducted at San
Francisco General Hospital, patients on AIDS treatment who used medical
marijuana gained more weight than those receiving a placebo. And, in
contrast to the false claims sometimes made by medical marijuana opponents,
the study found no sign that marijuana caused any harm to the patients'
immune systems. Indeed, those on medical marijuana actually gained critical
immune system cells.

Further research at the same institution suggests that marijuana can also
ease the misery caused by peripheral neuropathy, another painful
complication sometimes caused by HIV or the drugs used to treat it. In
November 2003, the American Academy of HIV Medicine declared, "When
appropriately prescribed and monitored, marijuana/cannabis can provide
immeasurable benefits for the health and well-being of our patients."

Officials from the White House drug czar's office sometimes claim that
medical marijuana is unnecessary because a prescription pill is available
containing THC, one of marijuana's active components. But our clients
regularly tell us that this pill, called Marinol, has major problems. When
you're nauseated, keeping a pill down may be impossible.

Those who do manage to take Marinol often report that it is less effective
than marijuana, and, because they have less control over the dose, that it
makes them too "high" to function.

Cost is another issue. My organization provides assistance with prescription
drug costs, but at up to $500 per month the cost of Marinol quickly burns
through the limited subsidies we can provide. Our clients wonder why they
should use up that aid on this expensive pill when they can get better
relief from a plant they can grow in their back yard.

There is only one reason: Under Rhode Island law, that plant can land them
in jail, and that's just crazy.

Medical care decisions should be between doctors and patients. Compassion
and common sense demand that Rhode Island's legislature pass the medical
marijuana bill without delay.

Christopher Butler is executive director of AIDS Project Rhode Island.