HIGH COURT TO RULE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The U. S. Supreme Court will, once again, wade into the medical
marijuana debate, announcing yesterday it will consider whether sick
people who smoke pot on a doctor's orders are subject to a federal ban
on the weed.

At issue is a California case involving two seriously ill women whose
doctors recommended marijuana to relieve their chronic pain.

A lower court ruled in December that a federal law outlawing marijuana
does not apply to California patients whose doctors have prescribed
the drug, but the Bush administration is challenging that ruling.
California is one of nine states, including Vermont and Maine, that
allow patients to use pot with a doctor's orders.

"When people are desperately ill, have a terminal disease or on
chemotherapy, and there is any chance that marijuana can help, why not
give it to them?" said Dr. Jerome Kassirer, former editor of the New
England Journal of Medicine.

He said many studies, including the landmark 1999 Institute of
Medicine report, continue to show benefits of medical marijuana use.

But critics worry an easing of the ban will send the wrong message to
kids that drugs are OK.

For wheelchair-bound Springfield resident Brian, who uses pot to ease
debilitating muscle spasms from multiple sclerosis, the debate is
frustrating.

"I have tons of pills, but this is better medication than the pills
they give me," said Brian, 56, who asked that his last name not be
used.

In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that California cannabis clubs could
not distribute pot as a "medical necessity" for seriously ill
patients, even if they have a doctor's recommendation.