Families, Voters Can Make Decision Ease The Pain Only Social Stigma Is Behind The Drug’s Prohibition.

At this moment Steven Dio Jefferson lies in a coma, confined to an intensive care unit in New York City where he has resided on and off for the past two years of his life.

His family prays that soon his battle with cancer will end with his passing. Then he will be free from the pain caused by his crippling disease.

These days, nearly all Americans can recall a friend or family member forced to struggle with a debilitating illness like cancer, arthritis or AIDS. They know that many people in pain are not accommodated by traditional medical practices.

Marijuana is one drug that could ease their pain.

Yet most states outlaw growing, distributing or possessing marijuana. Doctors and scientists are even restricted from openly performing tests on the drug.

Marijuana does not induce violent, criminal behavior, nor does it have fatal side affects. The drug is not as dangerously addictive as stronger narcotics like cocaine or heroin. The only reason marijuana is prohibited is because a provincial social stigma is attached to the drug. That irony leaves many people baffled.

Which is why the decision whether to legalize marijuana for beneficial purposes is best left to the American voting public.

Government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration have been slow and ineffective in addressing the issue. They also have failed to dispel the myths and propaganda that currently frame the marijuana debate.

Last month, citizens in California and Arizona voted to ease marijuana prohibition. Given that any federal agency is a tool of the people, those citizens used their legislative voice to demand the legal use of marijuana in cases where it can be beneficial. They want the government to give this issue honest, sincere consideration.

Staging the legalization discussion in the political world will be the most expedient way to resolve this issue. Traditional scientific methods for marketing new drugs will not allow the American people the opportunity to participate in the debate, because those methods are bogged down with rhetoric and regulation.

That’s wrong. Especially when there are so many people who are affected by this discussion - people like the Jeffersons in New York City, who would have been grateful for anything that could have made Uncle Steve’s torturous struggle just a little more bearable.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view see headline: Marijuana is just bad medicine

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = EDITORIAL, COLUMN - From both sides CREDIT = Elana Ashanti Jefferson/For the editorial board