Breaking the Federal/State Impasse over Medical Marijuana: A Proposal

California\u27s Proposition 215 legalizes the medical use of marijuana. Since its passage, the State of California and the federal government have been engaged in legal skirmishing over its implementation. In this policy commentary, Professor Cohen describes the current legal status of medical marijuana and the current scientific views about its efficacy for various medical purposes. She appeals to California\u27s Governor Gray Davis to break the costly legal impasse between federal and state governments over medical marijuana. She proposes that the Governor support the scientific efforts needed to determine whether, and for what, marijuana is good medicine. Further, the Governor should negotiate with the federal government to obtain both adequate marijuana for those scientific efforts and the drug\u27s reclassification, if found effective, to enable its pharmaceutical use. Once marijuana is either determined to have no medical benefits or is available as a pharmaceutical, and in return for federal cooperation, the Governor\u27s Office should agree to seek the repeal of Proposition 215 as no longer necessary