1.   Although the new state laws allow doctors to prescribe marijuana in Arizona and recommend it in California, federal law makes it illegal for patients to get it.

2.   Arizona approved a measure allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to relieve the pain and suffering of patients who are seriously ill.

3.   As written, the proposition allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to critically ill patients if two licensed physicians agree on the use and offer supporting research.

4.   A physician who prescribes marijuana without the proper diagnoses should be held up to peer review and punished.

5.   Gen. Barry McCaffrey and the Justice Department have threatened to revoke the prescription-drug licenses of doctors who prescribe marijuana.

6.   However, doctors cannot dispense or prescribe marijuana for the patient without falling outside the law.

7.   In November voters in California and Arizona gave doctors the right to prescribe marijuana for some patients, but last week the federal government just said no.

8.   In the meantime, he said, marijuana could be prescribed by doctors for patients who will benefit.

9.   It is his comments on laws in California and Arizona, where the pro-legalization lobby last year funded ballot initiatives that allow doctors to prescribe marijuana.

10.   It also would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to critically ill patients if two licensed physicians agree on the use and offer research on its appropriateness.