They said they had patients who had benefited from it when other drugs had failed. Federal laws still ban marijuana as stringently as heroin. Not that I was ever at much risk of arrest. As a member of the media elite, I was not a likely target for a drug bust, and living in Manhattan, I could acquire what I needed under the cover of urban anonymity. But people in less privileged professions, or from different ZIP codes, do get into trouble when buying or growing marijuana for medical purposes.
Unequal enforcement is a sign of bad law.
The experts' report raised serious questions about the toxicity of marijuana smoke. But many medicines are toxic. An AIDS patient facing starvation might well be willing to damage his lungs instead. Further work should be done on alternative delivery systems, like inhalers and patches. But in the meantime there are sick people who could use relief now.