Taboo or not Taboo?
"There is no Islamic taboo banning the donation of organs," said Imam Hassan Qzawani, head of the Islamic Center of America. Nevertheless, there is a widespread belief in the Muslim community that organ donation is forbidden. To see heaven, many believe, their bodies must return to God in one piece.

There is no corresponding belief against receiving organs and the number of Arab-Americans, a majority of whom are Muslim, in need of transplants is on the rise. Doctors say that transplants between relatives or people of the same ethnicity have higher success rates. The New York Times reports that during the last six years in the state of Michigan twelve Arab-Americans have received donated organs, while there has been only one corresponding donor.

Working to change this is Najah Bazzy, a Lebanese nurse who recently shocked her family by signing an organ donor card. Spearheading an effort to include organ donations in Islamic wills, she is also mobilizing doctors and religious leaders to help dispel the myth. "There is a saying in Islam," Ms. Bazzy said. "He who saves a life saves humanity. Why are we so eager to take our organs with us and give up the opportunity to save a life?"

Battle of the Bong
Another campaign in the war on drugs was won last month. Federal law says that marijuana has no medicinal purposes and cannot be administered safely under medical supervision. This notion has been challenged by a few states—most notably by California, which passed Proposition 215 in 1996, an initiative that allows seriously ill patients to use marijuana for pain relief. The legality of Proposition 215 has been challenged in several courts and was recently argued before the Supreme Court, reports the on-line magazine Salon.

In U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative, the Court voted 7-1 to bar marijuana distribution to Californians whose doctors recommend its use. (Justice Breyer disqualified himself from the case.) In his dissenting opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens—the only justice not currently practicing medicine without a license—said that the government "failed to demonstrate that the denial of necessary medicine to seriously ill and dying patients will advance the public interest."

How to Get Ahead in Law Enforcement
Staten Island District Attorney William Murphy underwent a kidney transplant in late August, his second this year, reported the Staten Island Advance. Doctors told the D.A., a diabetic, last year that he would need a new kidney. A donor was soon found: Mario Mattei, the D.A.'s chief of investigations. Initially considered a success, the first transplant ultimately failed. The second donor, Detective Daniel Ingellis, said he offered his organ immediately upon learning that the first attempt failed. Ingellis, a twenty-six year Police Department veteran, has been Murphy's bodyguard for fifteen years. While it can take up to three years for a kidney to become available, Murphy never had to endure the wait, thanks to Mattei's and Ingellis' offers.

Now there are two employees who need not fear future performance reviews.