Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2011
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2011 The New York Times Company
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

2 GOVERNORS ASKING U.S. TO EASE RULES ON MARIJUANA TO ALLOW FOR ITS MEDICAL USE

The governors of Washington and Rhode Island petitioned the federal 
government on Wednesday to reclassify marijuana as a drug with 
accepted medical uses, saying the change is needed so states like 
theirs, which have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes, can 
regulate the safe distribution of the drug without risking federal prosecution.

The move by the governors - Christine Gregoire of Washington, a 
Democrat, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, an independent who used 
to be a Republican - injected new political muscle into the 
long-running debate on the status of marijuana. Their states are 
among the 16 that now allow medical marijuana, but which have seen 
efforts to grow and distribute the drug targeted by federal prosecutors.

"The divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where 
there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients 
who may need medical cannabis," the governors wrote Wednesday to 
Michele M. Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Marijuana is currently classified by the federal government as a 
Schedule I controlled substance, the same category as heroin and 
L.S.D. Drugs with that classification, the government says, have a 
high potential for abuse and "no currently accepted medical use in 
treatment in the United States."

The governors want marijuana reclassified as a Schedule II controlled 
substance, which would put it in the same category as drugs like 
cocaine, opium and morphine. The federal government says that those 
drugs have a strong potential for abuse and addiction, but that they 
also have "some accepted medical use and may be prescribed, 
administered or dispensed for medical use."

Such a classification could pave the way for pharmacies to dispense 
marijuana, in addition to the marijuana dispensaries that operate in 
a murky legal zone in many states.

"What we have out here on the ground is chaos," Governor Gregoire 
said in an interview. "And in the midst of all the chaos we have 
patients who really either feel like they're criminals or may be 
engaged in some criminal activity, and really are legitimate patients 
who want medicinal marijuana.

"If our people really want medicinal marijuana, then we need to do it 
right, we need to do it with safety, we need to do it with health in 
mind, and that's best done in a process that we know works in this 
country - and that's through a pharmacist."

The State of Washington approved medical marijuana in 1998, with a 
ballot question that won 60 percent of the vote. But like many 
states, Washington soon found itself in a legal gray area. The 
Legislature tried to clarify things last spring, when it passed a 
bill to legalize and regulate marijuana dispensaries and growers.

But the Justice Department warned that growing and distributing 
marijuana was still against federal law, and said that "state 
employees who conducted activities mandated by the Washington 
legislative proposals would not be immune from liability." Ms. 
Gregoire, while sympathetic to the goals of the bill, wound up 
vetoing much of it.

It was similar on the other side of the country, where Rhode Island 
passed a law authorizing state-regulated marijuana dispensaries. This 
fall Governor Chafee said he could not go ahead with the plan because 
federal prosecutors had warned him that dispensaries could be targets 
of prosecution.

Advocates for medical marijuana praised the move on Wednesday, but 
said the governors should not wait for the federal government before 
going forward with state initiatives. Opponents said that even if 
marijuana was reclassified, it was unlikely that pharmacies would be 
able to dispense it, because the drug is usually smoked and comes in 
varied strengths.

As recently as June the D.E.A. denied a petition to reclassify 
marijuana, based on a review conducted several years earlier. But Ms. 
Gregoire and Mr. Chafee said the attitude of the medical community 
had changed since the government last reviewed the issue.

In 2009 the American Medical Association changed its position and 
called for reviewing the classification of marijuana, saying that the 
current classification was limiting clinical research.

Ms. Gregoire noted that many doctors believe it makes no sense to 
place marijuana in a more restricted category than opium and 
morphine. "People die from overdose of opiates," she said. "Has 
anybody died from marijuana?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom