Editorial: Feds make right call on medical marijuana | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

I'll point out that I'm one of those people that just want to get high. I'll also add that I see absolutely nothing wrong with this - save the fact my govt. has chosen to make it illegal.

I challenge the reasons they give for this. Marijuana was made a class one drug - no medical value. Yet 13 states so far have deciced there is, indeed, a medical value. Well, they're wrong about their gateway too. The only thing marijuana is a gateway too is prison if they catch you at it.

The medical marijuana folks should have first call. But I'm not chopped liver. And I'm not going away. Legalize marijuana for recreational adult use.

Hell yeah! I'm a Texan and this hits home hard in San Antonio, free the weed to help those in need!

There's a way to be compassionate to patients who would benefit from medical marijuana without providing a loophole allowing others to get high. At last, the federal government is making this distinction.

Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder instructed federal prosecutors not to go after people who use marijuana for relief of pain and other symptoms in the 14 states where medicinal use is permitted. His memo reverses longstanding federal policy and marks a step toward separating those who could be helped by marijuana's therapeutic properties from those who criminally distribute or use it.

Medical science is gathering evidence that ingredients in marijuana can ease chronic pain, help some cancer patients and control chronic nausea, vomiting and glaucoma. The once skeptical American Medical Association supports research into marijuana's medical benefits and backs efforts to develop a smoke-free inhaled delivery system.

Public opinion also is changing, including in Texas, where any marijuana use is illegal. A 2004 statewide poll indicated that 75 percent favored allowing patients to use marijuana medicinally if their doctor approved.

The Justice Department's new stance makes certain that federal prosecutors are able to continue pursuing sham enterprises that distribute marijuana under the pretext of helping patients. Marijuana is the single largest source of income for Mexico's violent drug cartels, whose mayhem has destroyed lives on both sides of the border. Federal and state officials need to retain the authority to sever the tentacles of the global drug trade, but that can be accomplished without barring seriously ill patients from a potential source of relief.

Some states have done a better job than others in regulating medical marijuana. For example, California has no state regulation or standard for the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana, which has increased the challenges for law enforcement officials. Other states, such as Rhode Island and New Mexico, formally license medical marijuana providers, a wiser way to balance the law enforcement and medical priorities.

Fly-by-night dispensaries can be controlled if states properly set up regulated distribution rules. Some states even provide ID cards so police officers can determine who uses marijuana for medical reasons.

Next session, the Texas Legislature should move to approve the limited and controlled medical use of marijuana to allow suffering patients to legally access this alternative treatment. It's right, and it's compassionate.These states allow the medicinal use of marijuana:

Alaska

California

Colorado

Hawaii

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Oregon

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington