Pubdate: Tue, 08 May 2001 Source: Herald, The (WA) Copyright: 2001 The Daily Herald Co Contact: http://www.heraldnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190 Author: Associated Press OREGON URGED TO LOOSEN MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES SALEM, Ore -- Backers of Oregon's medical marijuana law urged a House committee on Monday to expand the law by allowing patents to possess larger quantities of marijuana and to give doctors authority to prescribe pot for more conditions. People suffering from multiple sclerosis and other ailments said that using marijuana has eased their symptoms and greatly improved the quality of their lives but that the current law makes it difficult to get enough of the drug. The House Rules Committee heard opposition, however, from law enforcement officials and others who said expanding the medical marijuana rules could lead to abuses. Opponents argued that such changes would go beyond what Oregon voters intended when they approved the law in 1998. Oregon is one of nine states, including Washington, that permit medicinal use of the plant. Oregon's law allows doctors to approve marijuana for specific maladies including cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, severe pain or nausea, seizures or muscle spasms. The measure, HB3919, would increase the quantity of marijuana a patient could legally possess from three to five mature marijuana plants and from four to five immature plants. A patient would be able to have 10 ounces of usable marijuana, meaning dried leaves and flowers, instead of 3 ounces. Stormy Ray, a medical marijuana activist who suffers from MS, said she and other qualified patents are constantly faced with short supplies of he drug, prompting some to purchase it illegally on the streets. "I have paralyzing fear that I won't he able to find any on time. Without marijuana, my MS symptoms will cause the pain to consume me," Ray told the committee. The chairman of the panel, Rep. Carl Wilson, said he's open to arguments that the law needs to he changed so that qualified patents can possess larger amounts of marijuana. But the Grants Pass Republican said he has major reservations about another provision of the bill that would expand eligibility to include any medical condition that a physician believed 'would be benefited by the medical use of marijuana." "That is the biggest go-slow of all," Wilson said, echoing concerns raised by law enforcement officials and others that the provision would make the law too open. Barbara Cimaglio, head of the state Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, said her office strongly opposes that provision because Oregon voters had a "clear understanding" that marijuana would he prescribed only for specific illnesses. Cimaglio also expressed concerns about allowing patients to possess larger quantifies of the drug, saying that it might "increase the opportunity for criminal behavior." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth