[420 Girl]

Marijuana is a medicine. Not many doctors are willing to make that kind of statement publicly, especially when U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raids result in the jailing of physicians, terminally ill patients and state- licensed marijuana growers in states where the medicinal use of marijuana is permitted by law.

But Richard J. Wyderski, a physician at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, believes the benefits of the herbal therapy far outweigh the risks of pushing for legalization. In this case, he's publicly backing Senate Bill 343, most commonly referred to as the Ohio Medical Compassion Act sponsored by State Sen. Tom Roberts (D-Dayton).

SB 343 is similar to the medical marijuana legislation proposed by State Sen. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) in 2005. That law never received a hearing, but the new bill was the subject of expert testimony in November. The bill would create a "registry identification" card for individuals who use medical marijuana for specific medical conditions. Those with a diagnosis that fits the definition of "debilitating medical condition" outlined in the legislation would be able to apply for the card and use marijuana under the supervision of a licensed medical doctor. Those conditions include cancer, positive status for HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries and other chronic-pain syndromes.

"The Institute of Medicine report reviewed all the scientific evidence of the effectiveness of marijuana used as a medication for a variety of conditions," Wyderski says. "Muscle spastisity for multiple sclerosis is one of the most commonly used examples, but there's evidence it works for nausea - cancer patients who have nausea with chemotherapy."

Under SB 343, patients, doctors and individuals who work at sites that cultivate medical marijuana would all be protected from arrest and prosecution under state law. That's important, Wyderski says, because it begins to differentiate between drug use and drug abuse. Disregarding the relative safety of marijuana as a medicine and putting it on par with drugs like heroine or cocaine keep a legitimate drug out of reach.

The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear a case let stand a lower court ruling that a doctor is allowed to discuss the benefits and risks of marijuana, so Ohio doctors are allowed to discuss this medical option. But when it comes to pain management and quality of life for terminally ill people, doctors need more freedom and protection.

Using unregulated herbal therapies as his example, Wyderski makes his case for passage of SD 343.

"We already have people using all kind of herbal therapies for all kinds of other things, and herbal therapies are not regulated by the FDA," he says. "We have black cohosh for menopausal symptoms. People use ginkgo biloba thinking it might help their memory.

"[Marijuana] is a special plant because of abuse potential, and it probably should be controlled in some way. I think SB 343 reasonably puts into place those kinds of controls while at the same time allowing individuals to have access to a plant that does have medicinal value."


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