Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Randy Cohen, Everyday Ethics

EVERYDAY ETHICS: MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL, NOT WRONG

Q: I have HIV and use cannabis to alleviate nausea and lack of appetite. A 
friend grows and provides it at no cost. I distribute the remaining 
cannabis to 15 or so other people who either have HIV or are undergoing 
chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our lives come 
first. Are we not being ethical?

Anonymous Virginia

A: I'm with you: What you are doing is illegal but not unethical. Society 
acknowledges a moral right to break the law in extreme circumstances each 
time a sitcom cop pulls over some hapless guy for speeding and asks, 
"Where's the fire, buddy?"

The implication: If the driver really is racing to extinguish a blaze, 
exceeding the speed limit is acceptable. Similarly, medical necessity can 
trump marijuana laws.

While there are sound arguments for law-abiding behavior even when a law is 
ludicrous, in this situation you harm no one while relieving the suffering 
of the gravely ill who have no alternative remedy -- compelling reasons to 
violate the law.

And you needn't worry that you are implicated in the occasional gunplay of 
the marijuana trade; that violence is a consequence of prohibition, not 
pharmacology. One would expect the not-for-profit, grow-your-own network of 
medical cannabis suppliers to be insulated from the excesses of the 
commercial trade.

A recent Supreme Court decision confirms marijuana's classification under 
federal law as an illegal Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted 
medical use." Although the ruling does not overturn state statutes -- eight 
states have passed medical marijuana initiatives -- it contradicts what 
many patients and doctors (including the California Medical Association) 
believe.

Thus, for you to provide cannabis to the seriously ill is not just an act 
of compassion but an assertion of truth, albeit not one a federal drug 
enforcement agent would find persuasive.
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MAP posted-by: GD