MARIJUANA INITIATIVE NEEDS MORE WORK

When voters go to the polls on Nov. 2, they will be asked whether the
use of marijuana for strictly medicinal purposes should be permitted
under state law.

Marijuana is one of those hot-button words that gets people's hackles
up in a hurry. On one side, marijuana has unduplicated properties to
ease the pain of those suffering from chronic and terminal illness. On
the other side, it is one of the most abused illegal substances around
and I-148 would allow some Montanans to grow their own
pharmaceuticals. Marijuana has long been known to ease nausea and pain
associated with cancer and its treatments, as well as the symptoms of
AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other serious illnesses. Several
extensive studies have proven its effectiveness and nine states
already have laws on the books to make the medical use of marijuana
legal.

One cannot argue with use of any substance or technology to ease pain,
no matter how addicting. Otherwise doctors would not have morphine,
Vicadin nor Percodan at their disposal. The key to those narcotics is
a state-regulated distribution system to ensure that they are used
only for their intended, legal purposes. The system does not always
work, as we have learned from the cases of several notorious celebrity
abusers. But the manufacture and distribution are nonetheless controlled.

I-148 would allow patients and their caregivers to register with the
state and grow their own marijuana - and that is where the initiative
fails. We would not dream of letting pain patients make their own
morphine or any other prescription drug. The initiative does not
provide adequate safeguards for quality, quantity and potential for
abuse of marijuana.

Some I-148 opponents argue that the active ingredient in marijuana is
available in pill form. Sufferers contend that the pill form is
difficult to dose correctly and can have undesirable side effects.
They say that smoking marijuana is the only effective way to relieve
their suffering. That is not at issue. Chronic-pain patients should
have access to whatever it takes to legally relieve their suffering.
But prescribed pharmaceuticals need state control that is not provided
in I-148.

Voters would be best served by defeating the initiative and sending it
back to its supporters for revision.