Editorial: Medical marijuana in jeopardy

Monday, Aug. 13, 2001 | 9:34 a.m.

Last November Nevada voters overwhelmingly approved a statewide referendum to allow marijuana's limited use for medical purposes. That offered great hope for not only some cancer patients -- since marijuana can dampen the nausea they feel from chemotherapy -- but also for AIDS patients, because the drug boosts their appetite. But it's unfortunate that medical marijuana's implementation likely will be delayed. As the Sun's Emily Richmond reported Friday, the organization representing 1,100 Nevada physicians continues to oppose medical marijuana. Without the doctors' backing, this innovative plan almost certainly will go nowhere since only physicians would have the authority to prescribe marijuana.

Part of the reason why the Nevada State Medical Association opposes marijuana's use is that it doesn't believe that the drug's medical benefits have yet to be adequately demonstrated. Besides, the group argues, there are other drugs that can relieve pain and alleviate other debilitating side effects from medical treatments. There are some physicians who believe marijuana has some benefits, though, and they could enable the program to get going. But the biggest impediment to medical marijuana's implementation are legal questions -- doctors don't want to run afoul of federal law that prohibits marijuana's use.

In May the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal law, which limits the use of controlled substances, didn't provide any exceptions for marijuana. But proponents of medical marijuana contend that the Supreme Court did leave some wiggle room in its decision so that states, such as Nevada, could go forward with their programs. Still, the court's decision was muddled enough that doctors fear participating.

The easiest way to clear up this confusion would be for Congress to simply pass legislation that would allow the states to set up strictly controlled programs to allow marijuana's use for medical reasons. That bit of common sense probably won't happen any time soon, however. So Nevada state officials involved with the issue should work earnestly with the appropriate federal government agencies to determine what reasonable steps can be taken to allow this worthy program to get started. Patients shouldn't have to continue to wait.