The Arizona law, by contrast, requires that marijuana be prescribed in writing by two doctors. But that measure is also written too broadly. It says that many other drugs, not simply marijuana, may be prescribed if permission from two doctors is obtained. Supporters of the California measure did their cause no good by immediately lighting up marijuana cigarettes after it passed last month and proclaiming that a legitimate medicinal use would include smoking a joint to relieve stress. These actions made it obvious that the goal of at least some supporters is to get marijuana legalized outright, a proposition that opinion polls indicate most Americans reject.
Parents have legitimate concerns about the increase in marijuana use among teen-agers.
Many who used marijuana a generation ago are struggling over what to tell their children, but they need to realize that today's marijuana is more potent than the version they smoked and that research has shown the drug to be far more dangerous to young people than was known in the 1960's and 1970's. It can be particularly harmful to the growth and development of teen-agers. California's Attorney General, Daniel Lungren, has ordered state law enforcement officials to interpret the initiative's language narrowly and require proof from those arrested that marijuana is being used medically. President Clinton is expected to announce today an aggressive campaign to combat the two state initiatives, including criminal prosecution of doctors who prescribe marijuana. That hard line makes sense for now.