Pubdate: Oct. 28, 1998
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 1998 San Francisco Examiner
Contact:  http://www.examiner.com/
Author: Mark Helm, Examiner Washington Bureau

5 STATES FACE VOTE ON MEDICAL POT

Opponents Fume Passage Could Make Drug "Quasi-Legal'

WASHINGTON - Just as it opposed California's 1996 medical marijuana
initiative, the White House is lobbying against medical marijuana
measures that will be on the ballot next Tuesday in five states and
the District of Columbia.

"To be blunt, these initiatives would result in the quasi-legalization
of marijuana," Barry McCaffrey, White House drug policy director, said
Tuesday.

McCaffrey said decisions to use certain drugs for medical use should
be based on science rather than politics. "Medicine is not determined
by popular vote," he said.

Voters in Alaska, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Oregon
and Washington will consider such initiatives. The measures would
allow physicians, under defined conditions, to obtain and dispense
marijuana as a palliative to their patients.

California and Arizona both passed similar measures in 1996, but
neither has gone into effect. In California, state and federal
authorities have made a persistent effort to prevent people from
selling marijuana to individuals who obtain a doctor's
prescription.

Arizona's referendum was blocked by the state legislature when it
discovered that the measure also allowed doctors to prescribe 116
other drugs, including LSD, heroin and PCP.

If some or all of the initiatives pass next week, political leaders
and police will have to deal with the fact that the new state laws
will be at odds with federal law. Attorney General Janet Reno has
strongly denounced the initiatives, insisting, "I don't think that the
determination as to whether there is a medical use for marijuana
should be made at the ballot box."

Political significance

"Legally, there is little significance if these things pass, but
politically there is a lot of significance," said Eric Sterling,
president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. "Members of
Congress might start to re-evaluate their position."

The proposals' supporters hope they are establishing a beachhead, and
that eventually marijuana will be legally available from doctors nationwide.

The initiatives' popularity suggests many people are rejecting the
message that marijuana is a dangerous "gateway" to stronger drugs, and
see marijuana instead as potentially therapeutic.

"This is a way to legally introduce people to possibly a lifetime of
drug abuse," said John Justice, a South Carolina prosecutor who heads
the National District Attorneys Association. "The drug problem from
stem to stern in this country is tremendous, and I knew a judge who
used to call marijuana "the kindergarten of the drug industry.' "

Proponents of the initiatives say there are many cancer and AIDS
patients for whom marijuana is the most effective drug in relieving
nausea and other debilitating side effects of treatments.

"The public has told us that they support the right of suffering
patients to use medical marijuana," said Wayne Turner, who helped
organize the ballot initiative in the District of Columbia.

While medical research on the effectiveness of marijuana is
continuing, proponents of the initiatives cite research that smoking
marijuana is more effective than pills and patches containing THC, the
chemical found in marijuana that some scientists and physicians
believe is beneficial to terminally ill patients.

More initiatives in 1999, 2000

Dave Fratello, spokesman for Santa Monica-based Americans for Medical
Rights - which is coordinating the ballot drives in Alaska, Nevada,
Oregon and Washington state - said in a statement that his group hoped
to put the medical marijuana initiatives on ballots in more states in
the future.

"The goal is to change national policy, but we know we will have to
win more battles in 1999 and 2000 before that happens," said Fratello,
whose group will spend $2 million on advertisements supporting the
state initiatives. AMR is bankrolled by three multimillionaires:
financier George Soros, insurance magnate Peter Lewis and John
Sperling, who owns a successful chain of adult education centers. The
three have spent a total of just over $2 million on the cause.

The campaign is airing commercials that stress the theme of
compassion. An Oregon TV spot, for example, shows an avuncular doctor
bemoaning his inability to help patients suffering with chemotherapy.
"Please, let us treat you with every medicine that can help," Dr. Rick
Bayer begs viewers.

Public officials and anti-drug activists are furious at this campaign,
but there is little organized opposition or advertising on the other
side - one reason supporters are confident of victory.

Opponents see a sinister agenda, the legalization of all drugs, hiding
behind the mask of compassion.

The Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry