VA. MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW SEEN AS SYMBOLIC

Virginia has had a law on the books since 1979 that allows doctors to
prescribe marijuana for cancer and glaucoma patients, but few, if any,
doctors do.

The law is viewed as largely symbolic because it conflicts with federal
policy, which prohibits doctors from prescribing marijuana, and there are
no means for patients to legally get the herb.

Under federal drug policy, "It's a Schedule I drug," said Dr. Billy R.
Martin, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth
University. "The definition is that it has no medical utility. Therefore,
it cannot be used in the medical profession."

A federal appeals court in California on Tuesday ruled that the federal
government cannot go after doctors for "recommending" that patients try
marijuana. That state's laws also allow patients to grow their own herb
with a doctor's recommendation, and some jurisdictions within the state
recognize marijuana-buyers' clubs.

Virginia law addressing medical marijuana use was enacted in an era when
supporters expected the federal restrictions to be relaxed.

"The '70s promise was never fulfilled," said Lennice Werth, who is with the
group Virginians Against Drug Violence, which supports availability of
marijuana for medical use. The Virginia law, she said, "can't be used
because it requires a prescription. Under a federal law, a doctor cannot
write a prescription for it."

Attorney Rodney K. Adams, author of "Virginia Medical Law," said the law
puts "a doctor in conflict between two statutes. Also, the Virginia Board
of Medicine looks at any violation of the statute. Do they look at federal
law or state law when they interpret that?"

Martin said the Virginia law also is little used because there is no
mechanism for dispensing marijuana. "In California, that is why they
established cannabis-buyers' clubs. And the political climate is different
there than here," he said.

Doctors noted the dilemma.

"There is no way I can write a prescription for marijuana. To my knowledge,
it's not stocked anywhere," said Dr. Christopher Desch, a cancer specialist
at Hematology and Oncology Associates of Virginia. "Places like California
and Oregon have pushed things a little bit."

Although there are anecdotal reports from cancer patients that marijuana
helps reduce nausea from treatments, increase appetite and mute pain, the
verdict is still out on whether the herb is better than prescription drugs
that propose to do the same.

"I have had patients who have told me they are using marijuana." Desch
said. "In most situations, I tell them it's all right to do that if it
helps them. . . . I have never prescribed it."

Martin is doing a study comparing smoked marijuana to synthetic compounds.

Werth in 1997 worked on a letter-writing campaign against repealing
Virginia's law. Having the law on the books, she said, might have some
bearing on legal cases involving patients accused of violating drug laws.

"Sometimes a prosecutor will see that [law] when they have somebody who is
a paraplegic or who has multiple sclerosis," she said. "The prosecutor can
decide, 'I am just not going to prosecute this case.'"