BOSTON--Advocates for AIDS patients faced off against activists who fear "a stoned society" in a heated debate over marijuana legalization at the Statehouse yesterday.

About 8,400 Massachusetts residents have been diagnosed HIV positive, and 33,000 more are infected but have not been diagnosed, according to John Auerbach, director of the AIDS/HIV bureau at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Auerbach and others argued before a state legislature committee yesterday that legalizing marijuana to treat these patients can alleviate their nausea and stimulate their appetites.

Representatives from Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, a national group, argued vigorously against Auerbach's position.

"We don't want a stoned society," said volunteer Lee Cox.

Cox's protests were joined by Dr. Janet D. Lapey '59, who suggested that prescribing marijuana was medically hazardous.

"The medicinal marijuana argument is a scam," Lapey said. "Medicinal marijuana is the Joe Camel of the marijuana industry," she added later.

Lapey said there was no real scientific basis for Auerbach's claims. Auerbach had cited primarily anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the healing powers of marijuana.

"There is a well-financed marijuana lobby who use the medicinal issue to give marijuana a good name," Lapey said. "They see this as a stepping stone towards legalization."

"No scientific studies have shown that there is an benefit for HIV treatment," she added.

In fact, she suggested, the drug may even prove harmful to AIDS patients.

"Every batch of Marijuana has at least 421 chemicals," Lapey said.. "If you harvest it at ten o'clock, it has a different composition than if you harvest it at two o'clock."