ASHCROFT'S OVERKILL

Supreme Court Upholds Doctor-Patient Right To Discuss Marijuana As Medicine

The sanctity of the physician-patient relationship was reaffirmed last week,
as were states' rights to regulate marijuana as medicine.

In a stunning victory for the First Amendment and the rights of the sick and
the dying to seek unconventional treatments, the U.S. Supreme Court refused
to consider the Bush administration's argument that the federal government
can punish doctors who recommend or even discuss the merits of marijuana use
with their patients.

By declining to debate the justices upheld an appeals court ruling that said
the U.S. government cannot tell physicians what they can discuss with their
patients.

Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department had argued that the
issue was not denying doctors freedom of speech but about the federal
government's right to outlaw marijuana and to prosecute physicians who treat
it like a prescription drug, even if so allowed by states.

The high court's refusal to intervene also legitimized earlier decisions by
voters in nine states to legalize the medical use of marijuana.

Another 35 open-minded states have legislation on their books that
recognizes marijuana's medicinal value. After this ruling some may be
inclined to allow its use as a legal prescription drug.

The Bush administration's core argument is that legalizing marijuana for
medical reasons will encourage pot smoking among people who are not sick.

Indeed there may come a day when marijuana is ruled as legal as cigarettes
and alcohol. But that's another legal fight.

Until then, and given that the government has long legalized heroin and
cocaine derivatives for medical use, fighting to keep marijuana out of the
nation's medicine cabinet is prosecutorial overkill.