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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Editorial
High court ruling on medical 'pot' not final

The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out California's "medical marijuana" law should will not, nor should it, end the effort to find a legal way to use this drug for compassionate medical purposes.

Effectively, the federal law prohibiting the use of marijuana for medical treatment is a political rather than a scientific decision by Congress. And it is a decision that stands on rapidly shifting sands.

In due course, Congress will recognize certain medical uses for marijuana (as it does for many other controlled drugs), and we can begin to move forward.

In fact, the relative lack of accepted evidence about the possible benefits of marijuana in medical treatment is due at least in part because it is generally unavailable for legitimate medical research and treatment.

In the meantime, the high court's decision provides new legal ammunition to federal prosecutors who might seek to enforce the federal law in states where local jurisdictions have chosen to allow limited use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Hawai'i is one such jurisdiction. Our hope is that the federal prosecutor here will move carefully before seeking to make criminals out of the scores of Island residents who now have permits to use marijuana to treat their medical condition.

To be clear, the Supreme Court did not say there is no constitutional right to use marijuana for medical treatment.

It simply said the law — as written by Congress — does not permit it. Congress has made medical exemptions for many other controlled substances, but not for marijuana, the high court pointed out.

If Congress had wanted to create a medical-use exemption, it could have done so.

All this says is that Congress lags behind the advanced thinking of states such as California and Hawai'i. Note also that several other states, including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, have also approved ballot initiatives allowing the use of medical marijuana.

It is perfectly plausible to argue that the medical evidence is not yet completely in on the efficacy of marijuana in the treatment of glaucoma, nausea and other conditions. Yet while it has its doubters, there are many in the medical and scientific communities who believe it can help.

The political climate is changing and so, too, will Congress. Until that day comes, there is little to be gained and much to be lost if the option to enforce this outdated federal law is pursued more vigorously than is necessary.