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Editorial: Reclassifying marijuana helps state and patients

Fri., Dec. 2, 2011

What a long, strange trip it’s been for medical marijuana.

Washington voters said “go for it” in 1998, but progress has been sidetracked by a conflicting federal law and a hodgepodge of unofficial dispensaries. On Monday, Gov. Chris Gregoire joined Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee in asking the feds to reclassify marijuana so states can devise sensible systems for regulating and dispensing pot for medicinal purposes.

Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which puts it in the same category as heroin. In fact, federal law figures marijuana is more apt to be dangerously abused than cocaine, opium and morphine. The federal “schedules” for drugs were established under a 1970 law, when fear of the counterculture informed our nation’s leaders.

Forty-one years later, research makes it clear that marijuana ought to be treated like prescription drugs. The governors want a Schedule 2 listing that would reflect this reality, and the American Medical Association, Washington State Medical Association and Washington State Pharmacy Association concur.

We have far better uses for tax dollars than enforcing paranoia.

The last time the feds were asked to reschedule marijuana, it took nine years for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to awaken and mumble “no way, dudes.” Sixteen states have adopted medical marijuana laws and need a rapid, reasonable response. Other states will probably follow suit once the air is cleared. If the bureaucrats can’t be stirred from their slumber, then Congress needs to amend the old law that controls this issue.

Addiction and danger captured the attention of Congress in 1970, but Oxycontin and a whole host of pain medications are far more addictive and can be purchased at a pharmacy with a prescription. Marijuana overdoses are practically unheard of, but many legal drugs are lethal if taken in excess. Nearly 15,000 people died from prescription painkillers in 2008.

So, with addiction and danger eliminated as justifications for a ban, the last question remaining is marijuana’s medicinal value. Science sides with medical pot advocates. For example, marijuana can limit nausea and stimulate hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients. Rather than being treated like common criminals, they need a simple system for obtaining relief.

Rhode Island and Washington have had bad experiences with dispensaries distributing marijuana. For safety and regulatory reasons, it would be better if pharmacies took over. Owners of dispensaries might not like this idea, but their businesses wouldn’t exist if the states hadn’t been forced down this path in the first place. The only justification for dispensaries is that marijuana ought to be treated differently, but it’s that kind of thinking that created this mess in the first place.

The answer is to start fresh with a system that treats medical marijuana like medicine.

Prescriptions and pharmacies. When the smoke clears, it’s really that simple.

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