Pubdate: [Tue, 29 Oct 1996] Source: Bay Guardian San Francisco (CA) Author: Michael Sussman Propositon 215 is a modest health reform measure, not a drug legalization initiative. it will change the legal designation of marijuana so that it has the same status as any number of potentially dangerous drugs that are still strictly illegal but can be prescribed by doctors under restricted circumstances. That should have happened nationwide 10 years ago when DEA judge Francis Young, after comprehensive testimony onthe subject, declared the prohibition against medical marijuana "unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious." The DEA, protecting its turf, stepped in and blocked the ruling. This Nov. 5 the people will decide. A No vote would affirm our "unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious" policy of arresting the infirm for their choice of medicine. A Yes on Prop. 215 is a vote for the basic medical rights of doctors and patients. MICHAEL SUSSMAN San Mateo