Supporters of reforming marijuana laws won a significant victory on election day last week, and I’m not referring to the reelection of President Clinton.

What I am referring to is referendums that were passed in California and Arizona that would make the use of marijuana legal for medicinal purposes.

With a doctor’s recommendation, patients with diseases such as cancer and AIDS would be allowed to grow, possess and use marijuana.

Two days later, however, Attorney General Janet Reno said the federal law banning marijuana use will be enforced, effectively nullifying the referendums.

In addition, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the referendums send, “a disastrous message to children.”

It is the federal government, however, that is sending a disastrous message to children by clinging to laws that keep a medically useful substance out of the hands of people who need it.

Meanwhile, drugs that are far more addictive and dangerous and have no medical value, alcohol and nicotine, continue to destroy the lives of millions of Americans.

People tend to get hysterical whenever a loosening of marijuana laws is suggested, as if any kind of reasonable reform would lead to all-out legalization.

These referendums are not intended to put dime bags and water bongs in convenience stores next to the Little Debbie snack cakes. They are intended to ease the suffering of AIDS and cancer patients.

But because the federal government wants to keep marijuana illegal, doctors will just have to prescribe something to ease their patients’ pain that is not as addictive or harmful as marijuana.

How about morphine?

Drugs that are far more addictive and have far worse side-effects than marijuana are stocked in pharmacies and prescribed to patients all the time, but no one has a problem with that. Why is that?

People associate marijuana with hippies, rap artists, skaters and other undesirable people. In short, marijuana has a public relations problem.

The myths about the dangers of marijuana have been perpetrated in this country for years, which is why even solid scientific evidence has been unable to discredit them.

If you need evidence of this, I would suggest renting the film “Reefer Madness.” It’s an old anti-marijuana propaganda film made in the 1930s, I believe. You can find it in the cult movies section at the video store.

It tells the story of two unsavory characters that get a group of decent, clean-cut kids hooked on “reefer” in a matter of days, despite the fact that the kids just puff and puff but never inhale. Maybe they had political aspirations.

They trick the kids into smoking pot by telling them it’s just regular tobacco. The kids, who apparently aren’t very bright, never notice the difference.

The kids proceed to kill each other, jump out of windows, drive really fast and engage in other activities that are totally inconsistent with the effects of marijuana.

A kind description of the movie would be “exaggeration,” but “lie” is more accurate. People continue to fear marijuana in spite of studies that show the fear is unwarranted.

Even if you aren’t interested in this subject, I recommend the movie anyway. It is truly hilarious.

There have been numerous scientific studies that have suggested marijuana is no more harmful or addictive than alcohol or cigarettes.

But the federal government refuses to make marijuana available to those who need it because there is a stigma attached to marijuana that makes it socially unacceptable.

Here is an example: If you’re a guy who likes to sip a cold beer and smoke a cigar while watching football, you’re a red-blooded, all-American guy.

If you’re a guy who likes to smoke a bowl while watching “Nick at Nite,” you’re a slacking, pot-head loser.

In my personal experience, I have found alcohol to be much more dangerous than marijuana. Drunk people tend to get into fights, car accidents and other unpleasant situations. People who are stoned tend to sit on the couch.

I do not mean to suggest that marijuana is harmless. But alcohol and tobacco are not harmless, either, yet both are legal and socially acceptable.

This double-standard is completely without a logical basis and is reprehensible when you consider the medical advantages of marijuana.

The country is probably not ready to consider legalizing marijuana yet, but keeping it away from people who could really benefit from its use is cruel.

We should be willing to part with moral hang-ups that are based on misinformation to ease the pain of people who are really suffering.

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Steven Martens is a senior in journalism mass communication from Cedar Rapids.