MARIJUANA TESTS NEEDED

Our position: Researchers need freedom to see whether marijuana has any
medical value.

The medicinal use of marijuana still needs a lot more testing, despite the
recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows doctors in some western
states to recommend pot to their patients.

Even though there is anecdotal evidence that smoking marijuana has eased
pain and other symptoms for some people afflicted with glaucoma, AIDS,
multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses, the drug's actual
effectiveness remains unproven. It would be a mistake to interpret last
week's Supreme Court action as tacit approval to light up a joint.

Federal officials correctly point out that, unlike conventional medications,
doctors can't accurately prescribe proper doses of marijuana to treat
medical problems. The blame for that inability rests on the shoulders of the
federal government. It has made it difficult for legitimate scientific
researchers to study marijuana. Since marijuana is a banned substance,
researchers must apply to get samples from a federal government-sanctioned
pot farm at the University of Mississippi.

It's obvious that this research is a casualty of the war on drugs. Yet
there's a huge difference between three teenagers passing around a joint and
a cancer patient finding relief from nausea in medication derived from
marijuana research.

Recreational use of marijuana is illegal. Cocaine is dangerous and illegal,
yet there are legitimate medical uses of it as a local anesthetic. Maybe
marijuana has a role, too. The key is to give researchers the freedom to
look for answers.