Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jul 1998

MEDICAL MARIJUANA, SUIT FILED AGAINST MARIJUANA LAWS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - One is a 21 year cancer survivor and an AIDS patient
whose body is wasting away from lack of appetite. The other suffers from
the "ice pick" pain of multiple sclerosis.  The remaining 163 plaintiffs in
a class-action lawsuit represent every other imaginable argument for
overturning the federal governments 61 year stance on marijuana. Their
suit, filed this month in Philadelphia, seeks to end the nation's ban on
the medical and therapeutic use of cannabis.

Lawrence Elliott Hirsch, the chief counsel of the Philadelphia-based Hirsch
& Caplan Public Interest Law Firm, is asking a U.S. District Court judge to
declare the marijuana laws unconstitutional.  He says his lawsuit
represents the millions of people who need to use marijuana to survive the
symptoms and treatments of a variety of diseases, These people, the suit
says, ought to be "free to use it for their health without control or
interference" by the government

Cancer chemotherapy, AIDS wasting syndrome and nervous disorders are among
scores of afflictions that can be treated successfully only by smoking the
natural plant, according to the suit, which seeks class action on behalf of
165 plaintiffs _ and perhaps many more.  The suit was assigned to U.S.
District Judge Marvin Katz A spokeswoman at the Department of Justice's
Civil Litigation Division said she could not comment on the suit Monday

The government's 1937 classification of marijuana as a dangerous narcotic
was the result of political and moral forces seeking to take away
constitutionally guaranteed liberties, the suit contends. Hirsch says
marijuana laws are akin to prohibition, "only without a constitutional
amendment."

"Cannabis was freely and legally available in the United States for a wide
range of medicinal uses until the federal politicians desecrated,
demonized, defamed, prohibited and criminalized what many cultures
considered to be an invaluable resources," Hirsch wrote. "The government's
arbitrary, hypocritical classification of cannabis as the most dangerous
drug in America continues to be the law and policy of the United States of
America, criminalizing the sick and powerless."

Kiyoshi Kuromiya, 55, a Philadelphia AIDS activist and one of the lead
plaintiffs, was diagnosed with AIDS 10 years ago. He said smoking marijuana
is the only way he can maintain an appetite "There's a very powerful
correlation between weight loss and the disease's progression, and
survival," he said.  "I can sit down to a meal and be able to eat maybe one
bite, or not be able to look at the food. Marijuana is very effective
Within a matter of a few minutes (after smoking) I can eat a whole meal.
Through the use of marijuana _ it's taken some time _ but I've been able to
regain a lot of the weight," he said.

Aside from chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Hirsch said marijuana has
been shown to be effective in the treatment of dozens of physical and
psychological maladies.  They include ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease,
arthritis, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, menstrual cramps, migraine
headaches and muscle spasticity related to central nervous system disorders.

Hirsch and Kuromiya point out that a pharmaceutical called Marinol, which
consists almost in its entirety of delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) - the
main psychoactive and medicinal compound in marijuana has limited
effectiveness.  Marinol is made under license from the government by Unimed
Pharmaceuticals and is available only by prescription. Because it comes in
a pill form, it is often no help to patients who are unable to take
medication orally, including many chemotherapy patients who develop mouth
sores, they said. They also say the cost of the drug is often prohibitive.

"When you're getting nauseated and you're about to vomit, you don't want to
swallow a pill, "said Kuromiya, who began the first Philadelphia-based
marijuana buyers' club in 1993 But it's the government's hypocrisy over the
use of THC, Hirsch said, that is also frustrating.  He questions why the
government would allow synthetic drugs with THC and not allow it in its
natural form.

"To me the constitutional rights are obvious We're not a political firm.
We're a public interest law firm. This doesn't have a thing to do with
politics. It has to do with constitutional rights and public rights,"
Hirsch said.

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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski