Pubdate: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Copyright: 2000 Pulitzer Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.azstarnet.com/ Author: Laurie Asseo, The Associated Press NEWSTALK: FOR MEDICINAL USE ONLY Supreme Court Agrees To Be Arbitrator In State Vs. Federal Marijuana Dispute WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court entered the debate over medical marijuana yesterday, agreeing to decide whether the drug can be provided to patients out of "medical necessity" even though federal law makes its distribution a crime. The justices said they will hear the Clinton administration's effort to bar a California group from providing the drug to seriously ill patients for pain and nausea relief. A lower court decision allowing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute the drug "threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws," government lawyers said. But the California group says that for some patients, marijuana is "the only medicine that has proven effective in relieving their conditions or symptoms." The group's lawyer, Annette P. Carnegie, said the federal Controlled Substances Act does not prohibit the distribution of marijuana for medical reasons. "Those choices, we believe, are best made by physicians and not by the government," she said. Marijuana has been effective in relieving nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, weight loss in HIV-positive patients and in reducing pain, she said. Eight states in addition to California have medical-marijuana laws in place or have had laws approved by voters: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado. Residents of Washington, D.C., voted in 1998 to allow the medical use of marijuana, but Congress blocked the measure from becoming law. In Arizona, voters approved a statute in 1996 and again in 1998 that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical uses. But doctors have been reluctant to write prescriptions because of the federal restrictions. Justice Department lawyers said Congress has decided that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use." In August, the Supreme Court barred the California organization from distributing marijuana while the government pursued its appeal. A federal trial judge in San Francisco previously barred distribution of marijuana only to have his decision reversed by a federal appeals court. California's law, passed by the voters in 1996, authorizes the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes upon a doctor's recommendation. The Oakland group said its goal is "to provide seriously ill patients with safe access to necessary medicine so that these individuals do not have to resort to the streets." But the federal Controlled Substances Act includes marijuana among the drugs whose manufacture and distribution are illegal. In January 1998, the federal government filed a lawsuit against the Oakland cooperative, asking a judge to ban it from providing marijuana. (SIDEBAR) TALK ABOUT THE NEWS * Should doctors be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes? Why or why not? * Should states such as Arizona - which approved the use of medical marijuana through voter referendums - be allowed to proceed with their plans despite a contradictory federal law? * Are there other disagreements between state and federal rules on marijuana that should be reconsidered? Share your thoughts on today's News Talk. Because of space limits, a sample of responses will be selected to offer a range of opinions. All comments should reach us by noon today. Responses should include the person's full name and daytime phone number. Respondents also are encouraged to include their age and occupation. E-mails should contain two to four sentences and may be sent to: Phone messages of no more than two minutes may be called in to 434-4094. News Talk appears on page A2 Monday through Friday. Responses appear Tuesday through Saturday on page B7, the Opinion page. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom