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US: Editorial: Congress Should Lift Its Medical 'Pot' Ban
Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Wednesday 02 Jan 2002 Even if New Mexico passes a bill allowing medical use of marijuana, those sick enough to need or want it would likely face federal prosecution if they chose to use it. It is time for Congress to step in and address the conundrum faced by states trying to help citizens by enacting medical marijuana laws. Federal laws banning marijuana's manufacture and distribution allow no exceptions for use even by seriously ill patients, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last May. In its ruling, the high court said the so-called "medical necessity defense" used by the Oakland (Calif.) Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was irreconcilable with the 1970 federal law. In writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas noted that Congress' Controlled Substances Act of 1970 makes it a matter of law that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use." In the 30 years since Congress passed the act, however, research has indicated that marijuana can relieve suffering and even prolong life for some ill or terminally ill patients. New Mexico's pioneering medical marijuana research program, begun in 1978 but discontinued in 1986 for lack of funding, reached similar conclusions -- conclusions that were supported by a National Institute of Medicine report two years ago. Patients shown to benefit include those suffering from glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, the nausea of chemotherapy or AIDS. Importantly, both the New Mexico and national research concluded that allowing medicinal use of marijuana would not lead to widespread abuse. Outside of the medical necessity question, however, the 1970 act raises important constitutional questions, including that of states rights. As governor of Texas, George W. Bush opposed legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, yet said he believed each state should make its own decision in the matter. Politically, the time is ripe for Congress to revisit the federal ban. The New Mexico Legislature is seriously considering a medical marijuana law but, realistically, its passage would subject already suffering citizens to potential federal prosecution if they were to avail themselves of the provisions of the law. An advocate from the New Mexico Drug Policy Project told the Legislature last week that federal drug priorities make it unlikely the Drug Enforcement Administration would prosecute for small amounts of marijuana. However, many potential users -- particularly older citizens -- would be loath to run even a small risk of an illegal drug use charge. In June 2000, federal agents jailed a young Californian suffering from AIDS for using the drug. They sent him home on bail after urine tests proved he no longer used and, sometime after, he died. Would federal prosecutors interfere if New Mexico had a state agency or university grow and dispense marijuana, as has been proposed? That appears likely, too. On Oct. 25, just six weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the federal government found it resource-wise to send 30 DEA agents to Los Angeles, armed with a Florida judge's warrant, to close down and confiscate the drugs and medical records of a center that had been dispensing prescription-only marijuana for nearly five years. The clinic had been set up with the help of the Los Angeles County sheriff. Just this week, DEA director Asa Hutchinson reminded New Mexico in writing that any marijuana cultivation, distribution or possession violates federal law. Only Congress can correct this conundrum for the states by updating an archaic law. Current medical evidence, states rights and compassion prescribe it.
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