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| The Ethicist: Herbal Medicine |
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Posted by FoM on June 24, 2001 at 14:05:24 PT By Randy Cohen Source: New York Times 
I have H.I.V. and use cannabis to alleviate nausea and lack of appetite. A friend grows and provides it at no cost. I distribute the remaining cannabis to 15 or so other people who either have H.I.V. or are undergoing chemotherapy. We all know this is illegal but feel that our lives come first. Are we not being ethical? -- Anonymous, Virginia I'm with you: what you are doing is illegal but not unethical. Society acknowledges a moral right to break the law in extreme circumstances each time a sitcom cop pulls over some hapless guy for speeding and asks, "O.K., buddy, where's the fire?" The implication: if the driver really is racing to extinguish a blaze, exceeding the speed limit is acceptable. Similarly, medical necessity can trump marijuana laws. While there are sound arguments for law-abiding behavior even when a law is ludicrous, in this situation you harm no one while relieving the suffering of the gravely ill who have no alternative remedy -- compelling reasons to violate the law. And you needn't worry that you are implicated in the occasional gunplay of the marijuana trade; that violence is a consequence of prohibition, not pharmacology, and in any case one would expect the not-for-profit, grow-your-own network of medical cannabis suppliers to be insulated from the excesses of the commercial trade. A recent Supreme Court decision confirms marijuana's classification under federal law as an illegal Schedule I drug with "no currently accepted medical use." Although the ruling does not overturn state statutes -- eight states have passed medical marijuana initiatives -- it contradicts what many patients and doctors (including the California Medical Association) believe. Thus, for you to provide cannabis to the seriously ill is not just an act of compassion, but also an assertion of truth, albeit not one a Federal Drug Enforcement Agent would find persuasive. A professor of sociology, I am editing an anthology with a colleague. I accepted, pending revisions, an essay from a young man who phoned to tell me how groundbreaking my own work was and in general to stroke my ego. I've since discovered that he reviewed a book of mine, calling it just plain bad. It seems dishonest of him to suck up to me while simultaneously destroying my book. May I cut his essay from the anthology, or should I refer the decision to my co-editor? L.E., Brooklyn Having tentatively accepted his essay, you ought not reject it because the author is a deceiver who hurt your feelings. If editors rejected the work of every ill-mannered writer, our nation would face a serious literature shortage. (Not a problem for my editor, of course.) But once you've gone this far, you should take the high road and recuse yourself, leaving it to your co-editor to determine the revised essay's value or -- with luck -- lack thereof. Were you starting anew, you'd have no obligation to accept this young cad's work. A book is not a public accommodation: it is your project and can be shaped by your personal preferences, however quirky -- only brilliant writers, only stylishly dressed writers who know their way around a dance floor. But even then, your professional reputation would best be served were you to consider only the scholarly qualities of each essay, not the weaselly behavior of its writer. His insolence you could vividly describe, if not in the notes on contributors, then in your memoirs. To revile you with one hand and suck up with the other (if that is anatomically possible) would be discreditable, but the putative hypocrite might see this differently. He may well admire your work in general while seeing flaws in your book. Such is the cut and thrust, the kick and kiss, of academic life. Send your queries to ethicist@nytimes.com or The Ethicist, The New York Times Magazine, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10036, and include a daytime phone number. Newshawk: Hans Petter H. CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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