Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Cape Cod Times (MA)
Copyright: 1999 Cape Cod Times
Contact:  http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/
Author: Felix Carroll, Staff Writer 

ISSUE REACHES PROVINCETOWN TOWN MEETING

PROVINCETOWN - He has written a poem on it, "Cannabis Sativa - Worthy of
Revolt?" declaring that the war on drugs is no more than a war on nature.

He delivered a speech at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse in
Provincetown in 1992 stating that conspiracy theories surrounding the
assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King read like "nursery
rhymes" compared with the conspiracy to eradicate the hemp plant.

And when he ran for governor of Vermont in 1990 he promised at a press
conference that, if elected, he would do everything in his power to
legalize marijuana use.

He lost.

Provincetown Selectman David Atkinson may be on the fringe when it comes to
outright legalization of marijuana, but as the battle over the medicinal
benefits of marijuana gains ground, his voice is no longer crying in the
wilderness. It's now among a chorus that includes AIDS and cancer patients
who swear by marijuana's medical value.

Atkinson has been successful this year in his effort to put an article on
Provincetown's town meeting warrant April 5. It seeks to put pressure on
state representatives to pass legislation for the medical use of marijuana
for people with AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses.

"The thing is, we know it's medicine," Atkinson said. "And AIDS patients
use it now, but they have to be lawbreakers to use it. How absurd."

Mark Baker of Provincetown, chairman of the Tri-County AIDS Consortia and
member of the board of directors of the Provincetown AIDS Support Group,
said some AIDS patients use marijuana to enhance appetite, which helps
fight mal-absorbtion, the so-called wasting syndrome.

"I'm not for legalization of marijuana across the board," said Baker, an
AIDS patient for 13 years, "but I certainly think it has a medical use that
has its place.

"I take 42 pills a day," he said. "That's pill-form chemotherapy. It's not
easy to deal with. Anything that can make it more tolerable, I'm for it."

Tim Hazel, case manager for the Provincetown AIDS Support Group, signed the
petition to bring the article to town meeting. He said many AIDS patients
report that the prescription drug Marinol, designed to bring about the same
beneficial effects as marijuana, is not as efficient and manageable as the
real thing.

"Marijuana gets such a bad rap for being somewhere between gin and heroin,"
Hazel said. "But I've seen it be very helpful for people."

Helping Our Women Inc., a Provincetown-based support group for women with
cancer, AIDS and other chronic illnesses, sent a letter recently to the
selectmen supporting the effort for a medical marijuana bill.

Irene Rabinowitz, the group's director, said several of her clients who
undergo chemotherapy have reported marijuana eases the after effects of
nausea.

"I'm not a proponent for legalization of any drugs, and the agency isn't,"
she said. "But in this particular case, there is some benefits to help
people that are really dealing with some really horrible chronic illnesses."

Atkinson acknowledges that passage of a marijuana bill may be difficult,
given the political climate against drug use.

"Anyone high up in politics is scared of the topic," he said.
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