PROFESSIONCourt to decide what you can say about medical marijuanaMarijuana is at issue in the case now before a federal court, but doctors say the bigger issue is an uninhibited physician-patient relationship.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. May 27, 2002. San Francisco HIV/AIDS specialist Marcus Conant, MD, says he wants to close his office door and talk to patients about the pros and cons of medical marijuana without fear of the government cracking down on him. "It's an issue of freedom of speech," Dr. Conant said. "I am not advocating doctors should hand out marijuana. But if a patient comes in and says 'My mother is throwing up from chemotherapy and I've heard that it does help,' I can't say, 'Yes, I've seen it help' or 'Here are the side effects.' " Whether physicians can recommend medical marijuana to patients without federal government repercussions is now in the hands of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel heard arguments last month and is expected to rule later this year. Doctors in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington will be watching the decision closely as well. Each of those states have medical marijuana laws and are in the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction. The decision could also affect physicians in Maine and Colorado, where medical marijuana laws have also been passed. "How can we in this country tell a physician they can't recommend something?" questions Santa Cruz, Calif., family physician Arnold Leff, MD, who treats AIDS and chemotherapy patients. In 1996, California voters gave Drs. Conant and Leff and other California physicians the power to recommend medical marijuana to patients. But marijuana is still an illegal schedule I drug at the federal level and government officials said they would criminally prosecute doctors who recommend marijuana as a therapy. They also said they would take away physicians' DEA numbers and their Medicare and Medicaid status.
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Copyright 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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The doctors are in the house
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