NETHERLANDS OFFERS DRUGSTORE MARIJUANA

Law Allows Doctors To Prescribe Drug

GRONINGEN, Netherlands - With a lever controlled by his left arm - the
only part of his body he can still move - Peter Boonman maneuvers his
motorized wheelchair across the floor of his spacious apartment to a
table where he keeps a vaporizing pipe and small plastic
pharmaceutical containers of pungent marijuana.

Getting high makes Boonman's life bearable these days. Since his
multiple sclerosis was diagnosed at the end of the 1980s, his robust
body has slowly deteriorated. At 52 years old, he is almost entirely
paralyzed and is confined to his wheelchair or bed.

Boonman smokes about three grams of marijuana each day. When he runs
low, he picks up the phone and calls a pharmacy here in Groningen, a
city in the northern Netherlands. A pharmacist delivers the pot in
small plastic jars - usually 20 bottles, enough to last him a month.
Eighty percent of the cost is covered by national health insurance.

Last March, the Netherlands passed a law allowing doctors to prescribe
marijuana to patients suffering from a variety of ailments, including
multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer. The Dutch government then
contracted with two growers to produce the medicinal marijuana under
strict guidelines to ensure quality and cleanliness. By September, the
world's first large-scale government-contracted supplies of pot
reached pharmacy shelves.

The Netherlands has long practiced what it considers a pragmatic
approach to drugs, and distinguishes between hard drugs, such as
heroin and cocaine, and so-called soft drugs, such as marijuana and
hashish. The policy decriminalizes possession of soft drugs for
personal use and allows them to be sold in designated "coffee shops."

The Netherlands has gone even further and now treats marijuana like
any other prescription drug. It is available at pharmacies in two
potencies, and some patients prescribed pot can have a portion of it
covered by their health insurance, like other medications.