FEDS SHOULD BACK OFF PURSUIT OF POT PATIENTS

THE ISSUE Three Californians have been sentenced to probation for
distributing marijuana to patients who used it as medicine.

FEDERAL prosecution of offenses related to the use of marijuana for medical
purposes has resulted in nothing but scorn from judges. Federal law makes
distribution or possession of marijuana illegal, even in Hawaii and eight
other states that have legalized cannabis for medical use. The experience
in prosecution of such cases in California demonstrates that strict
enforcement of the law against Hawaii patients would be disruptive.

Ed Kubo, the U.S. attorney for Hawaii, says the Justice Department needs to
analyze recent court decisions before deciding whether to continue trying
to prosecute patients using marijuana. Any review of recent cases should
cause them to let Hawaii's medical marijuana program continue.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that state law legalizing
marijuana for medicinal purposes cannot be used as a defense against
federal laws prohibiting any use or distribution of marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Howard Matz of Los Angeles this week placed on
probation three men who pleaded guilty to distributing medical marijuana to
patients suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer and other
illnesses. The trio had faced prison terms of up to 30 months in prison.
Matz called the prosecution at the behest of the Drug Enforcement
Administration "badly misguided" and, in reducing the sentences, invoked a
legal doctrine pertaining to crimes committed to avoid "a perceived greater
harm."

In January, a federal judge in San Francisco sentenced a man to a single
day in prison for his conviction of distributing marijuana to sick or dying
patients. The prosecutor had asked the judge to impose a five-year term.
Members of the jury that convicted him were angered upon learning they had
been denied information that the marijuana was used for medical purposes.

The DEA has tried to punish doctors for recommending the use of marijuana
by their patients. However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose
jurisdiction includes Hawaii, has ruled that doctors may legally recommend
marijuana, and the U.S. Supreme Court last month declined to review the case.

Patients use marijuana to reduce muscle stiffness and pain. Physicians
disagree about its effectiveness, but a study published this month by The
Lancet, a British medical journal, concluded that capsules containing a
cannabis extract improved some symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Patients who
use marijuana say smoking it is more effective because it enters the
bloodstream directly.