Pubdate: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) Copyright: 2012 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Contact: http://www.telegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509 Note: Rarely prints LTEs from outside circulation area - requires 'Letter to the Editor' in subject Author: Matt Murphy MEDICAL MARIJUANA QUESTION ATTRACTS OUT-OF-STATE SUPPORT BOSTON -- Proponents of legalizing medical marijuana in Massachusetts have a huge money advantage over opponents of the 2012 ballot question, almost entirely due to the contributions of one deep-pocketed out-of-state advocate. Peter Lewis, the Ohio chairman and retired chief executive officer of Progressive Insurance, has given $465,000 to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, the ballot committee behind Question 3. Lewis is a well-known benefactor for pro-medical marijuana laws. The committee raised $512,860 since January, according to its report required to be filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance 60 days before the election. The Vote No on Question 3 committee raised just $600 since January from two donors, $100 from Massachusetts Family Institute director Kris Mineau and $500 from Westboro homemaker Josephine Hensley. The Committee for Compassionate Medicine spent almost $406,000 over that same period through Sept. 2, largely on consulting fees -- $158,362 to the Dewey Square Group, $52,500 to Corrigan & Associates and $24,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union. Backers of Question 2, which would allow terminally ill patients to self-administer lethal drugs after requesting a prescription from a doctor, have also benefited greatly from out-of-state money. The Dignity 2012 committee raised $302,637 from January through September, according to its OCPF report, and spent $246,390. The Committee Against Physician Assisted Suicide raised $900,550 from late April through September, including $250,000 from the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss., and tens of thousands of dollars from Catholic archdioceses around the country. A separate group also opposed to Question 2 -- Massachusetts Against Doctor Prescribed Suicide -- raised $109,686 and spent $66,480. "You can rest assured these are not Massachusetts initiatives," Mineau said, referring to the heavy out-of-state spending. A Public Policy Polling survey released in August found broad support for Question 3 with 58 percent of respondents favoring medical marijuana and 27 percent against. Life-ending prescriptions for certain patients were also favored by a margin of 58 percent to 24 percent, according to the PPP survey. Ballot Question 3 would make Massachusetts the 17th state, including Maine and Rhode Island, to allow the legal medical use of marijuana. The proposed law would eliminate state criminal and civil penalties for the use of medical marijuana by patients diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition" such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's, ALS, hepatitis C or multiple sclerosis. The initiative would allow nonprofit medical marijuana treatment centers certified by the Department of Public Health to grow, process, and provide marijuana to patients or their caregivers. Law enforcement officials have had a mixed reaction to the ballot question, and Gov. Deval L. Patrick has so far declined to weigh in on the issue, deferring for now to the voters. Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early told the news service in July that he is personally opposed to the ballot question, but did not intend to do any campaigning to help defeat the measure. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom