A bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives may make marijuana available, for medical purposes, to people suffering from several diseases.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced legislation last Friday that would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana as a medicine for patients suffering from AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other similar conditions, cancer and the side effects of chemotherapy, Peter Kovar, a Frank spokesperson said.

Kovar said he did not know of anyone introducing a similar bill in the Senate.

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Paul Armentano, publications director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a group which advocates the legalization of marijuana, said the bill would only pertain to medical use. Recreational use, he said, would remain illegal if the legislation passed.

Armentano said the bill is similar to a medical marijuana bill co-sponsored by Rep. Newt Gingrich in 1981.

Some medical experts say marijuana has excellent therapeutic properties.

A study released by the Australian government last year contended that marijuana was effective in the treatment of Glaucoma. It also concluded that the drug is an effective anti-spasmodic and anti-convulsant agent.

Armentano said marijuana helps AIDS patients and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy because it eases nausea while increasing appetite.

The bill would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug.

Schedule I drugs are defined as substances that do not have any accepted medical uses, but have a high potential for abuse.

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Schedule II drugs are recognized for supervised medical use, but still have a potential to be abused. Cocaine and opium are Schedule II drugs.

Armentano said he thinks the bill’s chance of becoming a law is slim.

It’s a situation that is not rationalized, he said. It’s gone to moralization instead.

Armentano said there are eight people in the United States that legally receive medical marijuana. The eight people were part of an early 1980s program that allowed people to apply for receiving the drug for therapeutic purposes. He said new applications for the program were ended during the Bush administration and thus no more people can receive the drug legally.

The people who are terminally ill are the ones who are paying for this, he said.

Drew Hendricks, former president of SIUC NORML chapter, said he does not think the bill has much of a chance.

I think he (Clinton) would veto it in a minute, he said.

Hendricks said he thought Republicans would have to push such a bill through Congress because a Democrats face being labeled as sympathetic to drugs if they support a measure like the Frank bill.

It’s going to take a conservative to take a stand, he said.