Federal control of illegal substances is the supervisory power of the state. Mix the two, and duly licensed physicians can prescribe illegal substances. That is a combustible solution if there ever was one. Unfortunately, the California Action Report, a publication of that state's medical licensing authority, regularly lists more than one physician each quarter whose license is pending or gone because he or she created a drug mill. The answer is that doctors are increasingly viewed as fallen angels.
Doctors are now easy targets.
Imagine television pictures of anorectic, nauseated, perhaps even vomiting cancer patients thrown in jail for seeking relief. Both marijuana and heroin are schedule 1 drugs. Even physicians with Drug Enforcement Administration licenses cannot prescribe schedule 1 drugs, and the California and Arizona referenda do not call for prescriptions for marijuana. Only verbal or written recommendation is needed. Heroin was a part of Bromptom's solution, employed successfully in the treatment of cancer-related pain.