MEDICAL MARIJUANA: L.A. Times Calls For Federal Direction

      In light of the recently passed ballot initiatives endorsing marijuana for medical use, a Los Angeles Times editorial calls upon "Congress and the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider the use of marijuana for medical purposes, under the same careful restrictions that apply to prescribing other risky and often addictive substances." Pointing out that California voters approved a medical marijuana initiative two years ago, the editorial notes that there is now "clear evidence that for many seriously ill patients, marijuana can provide 'striking relief' from nausea, vomiting, pain and other 'devastating symptoms.'" The federal government's "continued classification of marijuana as a drug with no clinical value," irrespective of evidence stating otherwise, "is both anachronistic and inhumane," the editorial asserts. Comparing the controlled use of morphine to marijuana, the Times concludes: "If properly funded and carefully controlled studies show that marijuana also has medical benefit for some patients, federal law should respond by making it legal for prescribed medical use -- a far more restricted situation than what California voters supported two years ago" (11/5). Click medical marijuana to read previous coverage of this issue.