Note: Printed with this OPED was another: "Medical Marijuana: It's Bad
Medicine, It's Bad Law" http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1353.a08.html

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

It's All About Compassion

"Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active
substances known to man," stated Frances Young, chief administrative law
judge for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Seriously and terminally ill patients should be given the option of medical
marijuana use. Its therapeutic value far outweighs its perceived social stigma.

Approval of Amendment 20 will allow patients and their physicians greater
autonomy for designing appropriate medical treatment.

Opponents claim there is no thorough scientific or medical research to
support the medical use of marijuana. This is disingenuous. In a 1999 study
sponsored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the
Institute of Medicine concluded that "marijuana is an effective treatment
and is neither addictive nor a gateway drug."

Other research is producing encouraging results and is readily available on
the Internet and in peerreviewed medical journals. Scientists - like
pharmaceutical compa nies that develop and distribute "orphan drugs" for
rare diseases - have diligently studied and supported the use of medical
marijuana for the sick and debilitated. The opposition refers to these
pioneers as "quacks" and "charlatans." We Coloradans need to embrace
progressive therapies instead of regressive and divisive rhetoric.

Terminally ill and chronically debilitated patients pose a difficult
dilemma for the entire community. The community must recognize the ethical
dilemmas born of the inherent conflicts of interest between compassionate
medical treatment and government drug laws. Both physicians and patients
must be free to choose effective medical treatments without the misguided
interventions of the state. If history has taught us anything, it is that
disaster results when the government is involved in the day-to-day life of
the individual.

Indeed, the New England Journal of Medicine once described the restrictive
federal policy toward patient and physician discussion on the use of
medical marijuana as "misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane."

It is pure hypocrisy for the government to prevent physicians from
prescribing marijuana while permitting the dissemination of far more
dangerous drugs such as morphine. When it comes to dealing with the illness
and suffering of our friends and families, doctors' autonomy from the state
needs to be sacrosanct if they are to treat patients to the best of their
abilities.

Patients dealing with cancer and its treatments as well as those with AIDS
often experience a "wasting" disorder resulting in nausea, which prevents
them from keeping down even small amounts of food and, all too often,
pills. For these patients, the anti-nausea benefits of smoked marijuana
cannot be overstated.

Dr. John P. Morgan, a professor of pharmacology at the New York Medical
School, advises, "For people suffering from nausea and vomiting who are are
unable to swallow and keep down a pill, smoking marijuana is often the only
reliable way to deliver THC, the active chemical released in marijuana
which has therapeutic value. For patients suffering nausea, smoking
marijuana has the additional advantage of delivering THC quickly, providing
relief in a few minutes, compared to an hour or more when THC is
swallowed." In a 1990 survey of 432 clinical oncologists, 44 percent said
that they had recommended smoking marijuana to some cancer patients.

Some citizens fear that this initiative will lead to marijuana's widespread
sale and misuse. This is not based in fact. The initiative does not
overturn or negate effective state or federal laws restricting the sale,
trafficking, distribution, manufacture or possession of marijuana. A
patient may possess no more than 2 ounces of marijuana and a maximum of six
plants. Possession of more and resale of a patient's medical marijuana can
be prosecuted under existing law.

Coloradans for Medical Rights has placed Amendment 20 on the November
ballot to help physicians counteract disease and alleviate pain.

The constitutional amendment will allow patients, after consultation with
their physicians, to use marijuana in conjunction with traditional
therapies to help leviate pain, treat nausea, and stimulate appetites. It
will give physicians anoth er tool with which to continue the goal of
improving their patients' quality of life.

Patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis,
chronic nervous system disorders or any other medical condition specified
by a state health agency would will be eligible to receive certification
from their physi cian. The decision on whether a particular patient would
benefit from smoking marijuana is left to the patient, physician and
family. Recreational marijuana use will remain illegal. Existing law will
continue to prohibit marijuana use in public places. Certified patients
must carry a registry identification card issued by the state health
agency. Through this highly controlled and regulated system, only the
legitimate, compassionate medical use of marijuana would be permitted.

The First Clinical Conference on Therapeutic Cannabis was held in April at
the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center's School of Nursing to
discuss the subject. Representatives from dozens of national and local
professional or ganizations in the health-care field - including the
American Public Health Association, Colorado Nursing Association, National
Nurses Society on Addictions and the California Medical Association -
support the therapeutic use of cannabis.

We, the supporters of Amendment 20, have written to you, the citizens of
Colorado, directly and truthfully about this initiative. Let us give our
patients the option to use whatever means possible to ease their pain and
suffering. It's the humane and right thing to do.

Amendment 20 grants compassion and offers greater individual freedom and
self-determination to patients, their families, and the medical community.