Feds should back off

THE ISSUE
Three Californians have been sentenced to probation for distributing
marijuana to patients who used it as medicine.

FEDERAL prosecution of offenses related to the use of marijuana for medical
purposes has resulted in nothing but scorn from judges. Federal law makes
distribution or possession of marijuana illegal, even in Hawaii and eight
other states that have legalized cannabis for medical use. The experience in
prosecution of such cases in California demonstrates that strict enforcement
of the law against Hawaii patients would be disruptive.

Ed Kubo, the U.S. attorney for Hawaii, says the Justice Department needs to
analyze recent court decisions before deciding whether to continue trying to
prosecute patients using marijuana. Any review of recent cases should cause
them to let Hawaii's medical marijuana program continue.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that state law legalizing
marijuana for medicinal purposes cannot be used as a defense against federal
laws prohibiting any use or distribution of marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Howard Matz of Los Angeles this week placed on probation
three men who pleaded guilty to distributing medical marijuana to patients
suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer and other illnesses. The
trio had faced prison terms of up to 30 months in prison. Matz called the
prosecution at the behest of the Drug Enforcement Administration "badly
misguided" and, in reducing the sentences, invoked a legal doctrine
pertaining to crimes committed to avoid "a perceived greater harm."

In January, a federal judge in San Francisco sentenced a man to a single day
in prison for his conviction of distributing marijuana to sick or dying
patients. The prosecutor had asked the judge to impose a five-year term.
Members of the jury that convicted him were angered upon learning they had
been denied information that the marijuana was used for medical purposes.

The DEA has tried to punish doctors for recommending the use of marijuana by
their patients. However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose
jurisdiction includes Hawaii, has ruled that doctors may legally recommend
marijuana, and the U.S. Supreme Court last month declined to review the
case.

Patients use marijuana to reduce muscle stiffness and pain. Physicians
disagree about its effectiveness, but a study published this month by The
Lancet, a British medical journal, concluded that capsules containing a
cannabis extract improved some symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Patients who
use marijuana say smoking it is more effective because it enters the
bloodstream directly.


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Editorials
Friday, November 28, 2003