COURT LETS DOCTORS PRESCRIBE MARIJUANA

Oregon doctors can prescribe medical marijuana to their patients without
fear of punishment from the federal government, thanks to a U.S. Supreme
Court decision.

The high court on Tuesday declined the Bush administration's request to
consider whether the federal government can punish doctors for recommending
marijuana to sick patients.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had ruled that such
action by the government violated the right of physicians to speak candidly
to patients without fear of government sanctions.

Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, who is responsible for upholding Oregon
laws, sees the U.S. Supreme Court decision as a clear-cut victory for the
Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, spokesman Kevin Neely said.

"Under this decision, physicians in Oregon are free to speak with their
patients about the use of medicinal marijuana," he said. "There is no
doubt."

Todd Dalotto, president and co-founder of Compassion Center, a Eugene
medical marijuana clinic, said the court's decision to let stand the appeals
court ruling was "one of the best things that's happened to Oregon's medical
marijuana patients" since voters created the medical marijuana program by
approving a 1998 ballot initiative.

The Oregon program allows patients with at least one listed ailment to
qualify for a medical marijuana registration card through the Oregon
Department of Human Services, which exempts them from prosecution for
possessing a small amount of cannabis to treat their pain or condition.

But before they can obtain a medical marijuana card, an attending physician
signs a statement saying "marijuana used medically may mitigate the symptoms
or effects of this patient's condition."

Before the Supreme Court decision, patients have had difficulty finding
doctors willing to sign such a statement, fearing that the federal
government could yank their license to prescribe drugs, Dalotto said.

"Until now, one of the top obstacles facing seriously ill and sick
Oregonians from benefiting from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act has been
the unwillingness of their doctor to sign the attending physician
statement," Dalotto said. "What this means in Oregon is that physicians no
longer have anything to fear."

Of the state's 11,392 medical doctors, only 1,093 of them have signed
attending physician statements to allow patients to secure medical marijuana
cards. Statewide, such cards have been issued to 5,085 patients.

Dr. Richard Bayer of Portland, an internist who led the campaign to pass the
medical marijuana initiative in Oregon, agreed that doctors would feel less
threatened by the federal government about discussing the pros and cons of
medicinal use of marijuana. But Bayer said he didn't consider the decision
to be strictly a victory for the medical marijuana movement.

"This is a victory for all persons who are concerned about patient-doctor
confidentiality," Bayer said. "This decision actually goes beyond medical
marijuana into the area of free speech."

Oregon is one of nine states with laws legalizing marijuana for people with
physician recommendations or prescriptions. The legal case that the U.S.
Supreme Court refused to hear originated in California, where doctors must
recommend cannabis use before a patient can obtain the drug.

It pitted free-speech rights of doctors against government power to keep
physicians from encouraging illegal drug use. A ruling for the Bush
administration would have made the state medical marijuana laws unusable.

Some California doctors and patients, in filings at the Supreme Court,
compared doctor information on pot to physicians' advice on red wine to
reduce the risk of heart disease, vitamin C, acupuncture or chicken soup.

The administration argued that public health -- not the First Amendment
free-speech rights of doctors or patients -- was at stake.

"The provision of medical advice -- whether it be that the patient take
aspirin or vitamin C, lose or gain weight, exercise or rest, smoke or
refrain from smoking marijuana -- is not pure speech. It is the conduct of
the practice of medicine. As such, it is subject to reasonable regulation,"
Solicitor General Theodore Olson said in court papers.

Despite state medical marijuana laws, the threat of federal legal action
against those who supply marijuana to people with a doctor's note remains.
In 2001, the Supreme Court upheld a Justice Department effort to shut down
an Oakland "cannabis club,'' ruling that there is no "medical necessity''
exception to the federal ban on marijuana possession.