MARIJUANA DISTRIBUTION PLAN DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A task force's distribution plan for medical
marijuana in Nevada is drawing mixed reactions.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said she thinks the plan would win
federal approval, but opponents say it would violate the wishes of Nevada
voters by restricting access to marijuana.

The 2001 Legislature is charged with setting up a distribution method for
marijuana following overwhelming voter approval Nov. 7 of the medical
marijuana initiative Question 9.

Despite the action, marijuana remains against federal law. And the Justice
Department has gone to court to challenge distribution programs in other
states.

A voluntary task force of 12 Nevada doctors and pharmacists thinks its plan
would avoid the legal hassles plaguing those states.

Under the plan by the Medical Marijuana Initiative Committee, the
University of Nevada Medical School - with branches in Reno and Las Vegas -
would create a marijuana research program.

The plan calls for marijuana to be grown on a university farm and given to
patients. Doctors would track whether the marijuana helped alleviate their
pain, nausea or other symptoms.

Keith MacDonald, executive secretary of the state Board of Pharmacy, said
he thinks a physician-run university research program is the best tactic
for the Legislature because it might secure approval of federal authorities.

The task force co-founder said a university farm of a few acres could grow
all the marijuana needed by Nevada patients.

"Why get it bogged down in the courts?" MacDonald told the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. "It could go on forever if we pass a distribution plan that
the feds oppose."

Del Papa agreed: "The feds have recently reopened the door and started
approving research projects like this. It would be 100 percent legal."

Del Papa warned that legislators are asking for trouble if they establish a
distribution program without federal consent.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue could come before the Legislature
adjourns in June, she added.

But Dan Geary, a leader of Nevadans for Medical Rights, contends the plan
violates voters' wishes. He favors a grow-your-own program.

"The people have spoken," said Geary, whose group led the fight to pass
Question 9. "But this unofficial task force wants to turn a mandate from
the people into a research project that would limit access to marijuana."

Although the plan may look encouraging to legislators, Oregon medical
marijuana advocate Barry Stull insists it's based on an erroneous
one-size-fits-all way of thinking.

From his experience growing legal marijuana in Portland, he has found its
potency varies from plant to plant.

"There is not just one kind of marijuana," he said. "You can grow the wrong
kind. One plant may work great for someone and not help another.

"We have to cut through a lot of the social crap about marijuana before we
can really help people."