MISSOULA MAN ADVOCATES POT AS MEDICINE

When Paul Befumo's father was undergoing treatment for lung cancer,
the chemotherapy made him so nauseous that he was unable to eat.

So, while the cancer was taking his life, he actually starved, Befumo
said Wednesday.

That made an activist of the Missoula estate planner. Befumo is now
championing Initiative 148, which would legalize the growing and
possession of marijuana for medical use in Montana. The issue is one
of several on the Nov. 2 ballot. Nine states, mostly in the West, have
passed medical marijuana laws.

Befumo said marijuana is an "effective anti-emetic," a substance that
suppresses nausea and vomiting, and it reduces muscle spasm in
multiple sclerosis and relieves the intra-ocular pressure of glaucoma.

If the initiative becomes law, only medical doctors would be allowed
to certify that a patient should be registered by the Department of
Public Health and Human Services, which would issue the patient an
identification card allowing them or their caregiver to grow and
possess up to six marijuana plants or one once of marijuana.

Because federal law prohibits physicians from prescribing marijuana,
which is classified as a Level I control drug, that is why the
certification process is used, Befumo said.

Opponents to the measure argue that regardless of the state laws
allowing it, possession of marijuana is still against federal law.
Several federal court decisions have found in favor of the states that
have medical marijuana laws, but those cases are on appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court with a decision expected in the next term, which begins
in October.

"The federal law is still superior," said Rep. Jim Shockley, R-Victor,
an opponent of I-148. "We settled that at Appomattox in 1865,"
referring to the end of the Civil War.

Shockley argues that the six plant limitation is unenforceable because
more than one site could be used to grow the plant.

"That lends itself to abuse, and this half-way measure (short of
legalizing marijuana for everyone) will make a mess in the courts."

Shockley said his wife is undergoing treatment for cancer. He said her
oncologist believes that those who would use medical marijuana are
those who already use it.

Shockley expects the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against the states'
legalization.

He conceded that not enough research into the substance's medical
efficacy has been done, and more testing is needed.

"If the facts change, it is possible for me to change my mind," he
said.

Befumo said most of the research has been conducted outside the United
States. He cited a federal study that found for law enforcement
officials "medical marijuana is a nonissue, it does not pose a law
enforcement problem."

The initiative is very narrowly defined as to who and how the
marijuana can be used, said Befumo, who has a law degree but is not a
member of the state bar.

Teresa Michalski, of Helena, said that while her son was dying of
Hodgkin's lymphoma, the legal pill form of the active ingredient in
marijuana was not effective because he could only take it when he was
not vomiting. The family lived in fear and anxiety while the son was
provided marijuana to smoke to counter the treatment related sickness.

"We are citizens of good standing," she said. "We were quite nervous
about it."

To counter the argument that medical marijuana would lead to greater
use by young people, Befumo presented the results of a California
study that showed use by high school students declined after the
passing of Proposition 215 there in 1996.

Befumo said the study did not indicate that the medical marijuana law
was the cause of the reduced use of marijuana, but that "the law did
not cause an increase in use as predicted by opponents."

Befumo said more than 600 Montana nurses and caregivers have given
their support to the measure.

A Harvard Health Letter, published Sept. 1, provides a summary of some
of the studies and anecdotal research on the efficacy of medical marijuana.

The material outlines the use of marijuana in connection with
Alzheimer's, appetite stimulation and suppression, glaucoma, multiple
sclerosis, nausea and pain.

The studies provide mixed results based on whether the active
ingredients in marijuana were smoked or ingested in food, or in pill
form.