MARIJUANA: MEDICINE OR DRUG?

Because Robin Prosser uses prescribed marijuana to ease her chronic
pain and illness, she calls it medicine.

Because Jeff Sweetin is a federal agent with the Drug Enforcement
Agency, he calls it a dangerous drug.

And because federal law supersedes state law, making it illegal to
grow, sell, purchase or use marijuana, even for health-related
reasons, Prosser is out of luck. "From the DEA's standpoint, it's not
medical marijuana, it's just plain marijuana," said Sweetin, special
agent in charge of the DEA's Rocky Mountain Field Division.

That's how federal agents saw it earlier this month, when they nabbed
Prosser's shipment of marijuana from a UPS delivery truck - it was
marijuana, plain and simple. And illegal.

But for Prosser, who suffers from a lupus-related immunosuppressive
disorder, an illness that for the past 22 years has caused her heart
trouble, muscle spasms, nausea, bone fractures and migraines -
maladies that daily marijuana use helps mitigate - it's the
difference between full-time agony and the ability to function.

"I'm a sick person," said Prosser, 50. "But I'm also intelligent.
I've raised a child in this community who's about to graduate from
the university, I've been a productive citizen, I was in the PTA, and
yet I'm considered a criminal."

Prosser thought she'd witnessed the ushering in of a new era in
November 2004, when voters approved the Montana Medical Marijuana
Act. The law allows patients to use marijuana if they suffer from
diseases like cancer, glaucoma and HIV, or from chronic pain.

Prosser, who qualifies as a patient, can grow her own marijuana or
designate a caregiver to grow or obtain marijuana for her. According
to the act, either Prosser or her caregiver can possess six plants or
up to 1 ounce of dried marijuana at a time.

The new law was like a godsend for Prosser, who's tried nearly every
pill doctors could prescribe, including morphine, anti-nausea pills
and other painkillers, even though she's allergic to them all.
Marijuana, Prosser says, is the only thing that makes her pain manageable.

"I don't see how they can deny me a thing that saves my life," she
said. "I can't eat without it."

On March 30, Prosser learned that a package containing 20 grams of
marijuana had been confiscated by federal agents. The package was
clearly addressed to Prosser and even gave the return address of her
designated caregiver, who is registered through Montana's Department
of Public Health and Human Services.

"They confiscated 20 grams of marijuana," Prosser said. "Less than an
ounce, and yet it's the difference between agony and the ability to
live my life."

According to Roy Kemp, who maintains the registry as the state's
licensing bureau chief, 319 patients in 36 counties are currently
recognized under the Montana Medical Marijuana Act. Kemp says 118
Montana physicians and 116 caregivers have signed up to assist
qualifying patients like Prosser.

Kemp's office at the Department of Health and Human Services also
ensures that doctors are licensed by the state, and that appointed
caregivers haven't been convicted of a felony drug offense.

In short, Kemp makes sure everything is above board. But at the
behest of a law enforcement officer, Kemp has to confirm whether a
person is registered with the state as a medical marijuana patient or
as a caregiver, which is exactly what happened in Prosser's case.

According to special agent Sweetin, even though the federal
government tends to focus on a brand of drug trafficking out of sync
with Prosser's case, the discrepancy between state and federal law
means the agency is obligated to investigate every complaint.

"The reason we encounter these cases at all is that when we get a
call about something suspicious, we're duty bound to go check it
out," Sweetin said. "What's the alternative? The alternative would be
to say, 'Hey, don't worry about it.' We get involved in these cases
because it's our responsibility to investigate."

So when a UPS employee flagged the package as "suspicious,"
apparently due to its strong odor, the company's security officer
called 9-1-1 and the complaint was forwarded to Missoula's High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.

"We did seize that marijuana," Sweetin said. "It came to our
attention that there was a package being shipped via UPS that was
thought to contain marijuana. We obtained a federal search warrant
because we had probable cause to believe it contained marijuana."

And although Sweetin said Prosser almost certainly won't face federal
charges, the DEA is more inclined to prosecute caregivers, many of
whom provide marijuana for more than one patient.

"Is she in violation of federal law? Absolutely. Will she be
prosecuted? No," Sweetin said. "But if you're a caregiver shipping
marijuana all over Montana, you stand a relatively good chance of
experiencing federal prosecution."

That's a harsh reality for Prosser, who says it's become increasingly
difficult to find caregivers willing to risk the possibility of
federal charges. Her only alternative now is to obtain marijuana from
dealers on the street, which costs more and makes it impossible to
settle on a consistent strain of the drug.

"I need a consistent, steady supply of the same strain," Prosser
said. "But it's so hard to find a caregiver when the minimum
punishment for growing and cultivating is five years under federal law."

Prosser said she had been with her current caregiver less than two
months prior to the DEA seizure, and isn't sure where she'll turn next.

"It was the first time I was able to find a consistent supply, so I
don't have to fear running out," Prosser said.

According to Kemp, a single ounce of marijuana lasts a patient about 10 days.

"It forces people to be constantly looking at how to get their next
ounce," Kemp said.

Prosser says she's been living with that anxiety for more than a decade.

In 2002, Prosser sustained a 60-day hunger strike and lost 76 pounds
to call attention to the need for legally prescribed marijuana. She
attempted suicide four times in two years because, she says, the pain
became unbearable.

"I can't believe I'm having to come back and battle for this again,"
Prosser said. "I'll go on another hunger strike and this time I won't stop."

But despite state laws, the issue of legalizing marijuana for medical
use remains mired in a federal resolve to keep the drug illegal.

"Confusion reigns on this issue and it's not going to get any easier
as more states go down the same pass, from the legalization of
medical marijuana to the legalization of an ounce or less," Sweetin
said. "It just creates a lot of confusion."

That line of reasoning doesn't sit well with Prosser, who is near
tears as she recounts the daily frustrations of her life - the
paranoia of taking a puff in the parking lot at Target so she won't
get sick while shopping, the conflict in trying to be a good person
and a responsible mother while being labeled a criminal by the government.

"Two years of this law not working is all I can take," she says.