Pubdate: Thu, 20 Apr 2000
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 2000 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact:  P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802
Fax: (808) 523-8509
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Author: Helen Altonn, Star-Bulletin

DRUG PROSECUTOR FACED PERSONAL CRISIS

Keith Vines, former San Francisco narcotics prosecutor, said he found 
himself in a quandary when his doctor suggested he try marijuana for a 
life-threatening medical condition.

"I was a prosecutor, and I was also a dying patient," he said in an 
interview here.

Vines was diagnosed in 1993 with AIDS Wasting Syndrome. He lost about 50 
pounds, he said. His physician told him there was no cure "and it was a 
matter of time ..." he said.

He said he started growth hormone treatment in a study evaluating Marinol 
for Food and Drug Administration approval, but he needed to eat three meals 
a day and he had no appetite.

The drug didn't work for him and his doctor suggested he consider using 
marijuana, he said. "She sat down with me and listed all the risks and 
benefits and alternatives ...

"I was sort of at the ledge. I was reaching out to my doctor and she was 
treating me as a patient, not an assistant district attorney.

"When you're facing death and your doctor says this may help you stay 
alive, looking at it from a patient perspective, you want to use any 
medicine if they alleviate your pain."

Vines has been with the San Francisco district attorney's office since 1985 
and is now chief of the psychiatric unit. He prosecuted narcotics cases 
from 1989 to 1994.

In 1990, he was on a federally funded drug enforcement strike force and was 
responsible for the second largest drug bust in San Francisco's history.

He has been meeting with Hawaii legislators and officials to discuss 
pending legislation to legalize use of marijuana for debilitating medical 
conditions.

Although he was reluctant after his physician talked to him about it, he 
said he obtained some marijuana from a buyer's club in San Francisco and it 
worked.

He said it helped him regain his weight with the growth hormone. "It was 
pretty miraculous."

He's back up to 200 pounds and now needs only a small amount of marijuana 
for his appetite, he said.

He said he's on protease inhibitors and doing fine. "You wouldn't know from 
meeting me that I actually had AIDS" and was "wasting away, having to sit 
on pillows because my body was skin and bones" seven years ago, he said.

"I work with law enforcement and I respect them," he said, "but I think 
there is a big difference between someone using marijuana under the 
supervision of a treating physician for medicinal purposes and someone 
using marijuana for purposes of recreation."

He said he obtains marijuana from delivery services allowed to dispense 
marijuana under San Francisco's Proposition 215, which exempts people from 
state prosecution who meet certain criteria.

"The reality is, we don't see abuse. We don't see youth breaking down doors 
of these establishments trying to pretend they're seriously ill."

Vines feels the bill to legalize medicinal marijuana in Hawaii has 
appropriate safeguards.

"Initially, maybe law enforcement is a little uneasy about it. Once it's 
passed and you start seeing elderly people and people with cancer, a small 
subset of the population, getting it, law enforcement will back away."

Vines also disputes an argument that legalizing medicinal marijuana sends 
the wrong message about drug use.

He said he has a young son in college who told him, "Dad, if it helps you 
feel better and stay alive, go for it."

"I think the message is quite different than what the federal government 
says the message is," Vines said. "What message do we send from our federal 
government when we say, 'Let's arrest seriously ill patients?'"
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