MISDIRECTION IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

Recently I underwent minor knee surgery. For the post-operative pain,
I was given Oxycontin, a powerful narcotic related to morphine.
Oxycontin has been on the prescription drug market for about seven
years.

Soon after its introduction, it became a popular recreational drug in
rural America, so much so that it acquired the moniker "hillbilly heroin."

The drug has apparently moved upmarket, as evidenced by the news that
the teenage son of rock musician and television star Ozzy Osbourne has
become addicted to the substance. Oxycontin is both quite addictive
and potentially dangerous: It's estimated that in the past couple of
years, several hundred people have suffered fatal overdoses from the
drug.

In this regard, Oxycontin is no different from various other powerful
prescription painkillers. Unfortunately, drugs that offer effective
relief from severe pain are almost always both physically addictive
and easy to ingest in fatal quantities.

A pain reliever that has neither of these disadvantages is marijuana.
Marijuana has none of the addictive qualities of powerful narcotics
such as Oxycontin and Percoset, nor is it possible to overdose on the
drug. In addition, many people suffering extreme pain from illnesses
such as cancer report that smoking marijuana provides more effective
relief for them than prescription narcotics.

In the past few years, California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon,
Maine, Hawaii and Nevada have all given doctors the legal right to
prescribe marijuana for patients who would benefit from this
comparatively harmless pain reliever. In an outburst of disgusting
hypocrisy that ought to make even the most cynical drug warrior blush,
the Bush administration has followed in the Clinton administration's
footsteps by continuing to use federal government power and money to
override state sovereignty on this issue.

The DEA and the Justice Department are persecuting doctors who
prescribe medical marijuana, even though these doctors have every
right to do so under the laws of the states in which they practice. In
an effort to stop this abuse of federal power, a bipartisan
congressional coalition, led by Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., Dana
Rohrabacher, R-Calif., Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Sam Farr, D-Calif.,
managed to get the House of Representatives to vote on an amendment
that would have prevented the DEA and the Justice Department from
spending federal tax dollars to raid and prosecute medical marijuana
patients and providers.

Although the amendment was defeated by a vote of 273-152, the mere
fact that one house of Congress actually voted on this issue is an
important step forward. Two-thirds of House Democrats voted to end the
federal government's refusal to abide by state medical marijuana laws.
This mirrors the percentage of the American public who support medical
marijuana. Fifteen brave Republican House members resisted the
enormous pressure put on them by their leadership and the White House,
by voting to uphold principles of states rights that the Bush
administration likes to invoke on a selective basis.

This is far from the end of the story. A similar bill is slated to be
introduced in the Senate later this year, and the House amendment is
likely to be voted on again next summer, when Congress will once again
authorize the Justice Department's budget.

If you oppose using your tax dollars to persecute doctors who, because
of the bizarre fixations of our drug warriors, can legally prescribe
morphine for minor surgical pain but cannot prescribe a much safer
drug to relieve the agony of terminal cancer patients, let your
elected representatives know.

Of all the excesses and absurdities of the drug war, the federal
government's persecution of medical marijuana is perhaps the most
barbaric and indefensible.