From the Nelson Daily News
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November 17, 1998
By Patrick Bashan, The Fraser Institute

THE REAL DOPE ON THE US ELECTION

Despite Americans exhibiting a collective clear-mindedness on contemporary society’s most emotive issue, drug policy reform has passed without appropriate reflection admist the lessons drawn from the U.S. mid-term elections. On November 3, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes (so-called "medical marijuana") received widespread support in several state-wide referenda.

Voters in five states passed judgement on whether or not doctors may prescribe marijuana as a medical treatment for seriously or terminally ill patients.

But apparently the federal and state governments are not listening. Arizona voters supported medical marijuana in 1996 but popular opinion was subsequently ignored by the state legislature; meanwhile, the US Congress threatened to use the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to revoke the prescription-writing permit of any doctor who dispensed marijuana.

The state’s political establishment sought, through this year’s Proposition 300, to reverse the 1996 vote. But a majority of voters saw through this political charade and opposed Proposition 300 by 57 to 43 percent margin.

In Alaska and Oregon, voters approved medical marijuana by similar margins. By votes of 59 percent to 41 percent, respectively, Nevadans backed a constitutional amendment approving the use of medical marijuana and Washington state voters have also endorsed medical marijuana.

Most voters agreed that marijuana-smoking sick people should be treated as patients, rather than as criminals. On election day, only eight Americans were legally entitled to smoke marijuana. Now, according to Bill Zimmerman of Americans for Medical Rights. "There are hundreds of thousands of patients which could benefit from the medical use of marijuana."

Political opposition stemmed from a combination of ignorance and well-intentioned, if misplaced, moralism, which argued that medical marijuana promotes drug experimentation and abuse. Suffice it to say, both the historical and scientific demonstrate otherwise. Respected opponents have included three former presidents recruited by Clinton’s drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey. "These initiatives are not based on the best available science," wrote George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford in a "Dear Fellow Citizens" letter.
See
3 Former Presidents Again Oppose Medical Marijuana; It Didn’t Work 2 Years Ago

The letter parroted the standard White House line that there’s no official evidence marijuana helps ease the symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc. After all, as deputy drug czar Dr. Don Vereen noted, "Smoked marijuana has not been tested (by the government)."

Fortunately, in electoral terms, medical expertise overcame political intransigence. As Dr. Jerome Kassirer, editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, wrote last year. "Thousands of patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana." He suggested that, "The argument that it would be a signal to the young that ‘marijuana is OK’ is specious."
See
Nahas versus Kassirer

This view reflects a medical history dating to 2727 BC - the first recorded listing -in Chinese pharmocopoeia, of cannabis as medicine. Revealing, the 1937 prohibition against marijuana occurred against the advice of the medical community.

More recently, in 1988 Judge Francis Young, the DEA’s own administrative - law judge, determined that marijuana had a clearly established medical use and therefore should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug. The government took no action.

The therapeutic benefits of smoking marijuana are numerous, hence a 1991 Harvard University survey’s finding that 44 percent of oncologists recommended marijuana to patients suffering from chemotherapy - induced nausea.
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A 1997 National Institutes of Health panel concluded that smoking marijuana may help treat a number of conditions, including nausea and pain. The so-called ‘wasting syndrome’ that afflicts those in the latter stages of AIDS may be arrested through marijuana’s ability to stimulate the appetite. There’s also considerable anecdotal evidence that marijuana relieves some of the painful symptoms of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.

Yes, there’s the potential for harm from smoking marijuana, especially respiratory damage. These long-term effects are irrelevant, however, to a person who’s suffering a slow, terribly painful death.

But, can the US medical marijuana movement serve as a model for Canadians? Perhaps. What’s missing here isn’t public opinion. According to an Angus Reid poll, 83 percent of Canadians believe medical marijuana use should not be a criminal offense. Most Canadians share the sentiment of Reform MP Jim Hart, that, "To process, charge and convict people for medicinal use of marijuana is a blatant waste of limited resources." Last December, an Ontario court declared the prohibition against medical marijuana unconstitutional (a decision appealed by the government).