LIBERTARIAN WANTS MARIJUANA REFORMS

Libertarian Candidate For Lieutenant Governor Running On Referendum
To Change Marijuana Laws.

RICHMOND--Gary Reams is no dope-smoking, tie-dye wearing stoner bent
on toking up--legally--on the floor of the Senate of Virginia.

He just thinks state residents should be allowed to decide whether to
change the laws on marijuana.

Reams, a 45-year-old telecommunications executive from Herndon and
Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor, is as button-downed as
either of his major-party opponents, Democrat Tim Kaine or Republican
Jay Katzen.

And contrary to most media reports, Reams' self-styled "Reeferendum"
is not just about legalizing marijuana.

"The message for this campaign is not on any specific model of
reform," Reams said. "It's to get reform on the agenda of the General
Assembly."

Virginia does not allow voters to create new laws through Election
Day referenda, a process known as initiative and referendum. So Reams
decided to become a walking referendum, and got more than 23,000
Virginians to sign a petition that put him on the ballot Nov. 6.

While he does not oppose decriminalizing or even legalizing pot,
Reams focuses on two specific reforms.

First, he wants to let Virginia farmers grow industrial hemp--a
marijuana variant that contains none of the intoxicating drug THC.
Farmers in other countries grow this strain of hemp to make
high-quality rope and other fiber-based products.

Earlier this year, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bobby Orrock,
R-Spotsylvania County, sponsored a bill asking the Rural Prosperity
Commission to study ways to let farmers grow industrial hemp. That
bill passed.

Legislatures in Maryland, Kentucky, Vermont, Minnesota, California,
Hawaii, South Dakota and Montana also have approved similar study
bills.

Reams also wants to resuscitate the state's existing
medical-marijuana law, which lets doctors prescribe pot to seriously
ill patients as a painkiller. The Virginia Nurses Association has
endorsed this, he said.

Reams argues that marijuana is unjustly categorized as a "gateway"
drug or as something stiffer than, say, gin or unfiltered cigarettes.
Studies have shown it to be less addictive than either alcohol or
nicotine.

He also argues that the so-called "war on drugs" has failed.

"It isn't doing what we wanted it to do," Reams said. "Both liberals
and conservatives should be on board with [reforming the laws].
Prohibition is a big-government solution and it breeds a contempt and
disrespect for the law."

Should pot be decriminalized, he said, government could regulate it,
tax it and spend that money on needed services such as road-building
or public safety--or drug-treatment programs.

The idea isn't so different from state-run lotteries or Virginia's
monopoly on hard-liquor sales, Reams said.

"Why is it legal to drink a Bud but not smoke one?" he asked.

Reams chose the lieutenant governor's race as his platform because it
is largely a ceremonial position. The lieutenant governor presides
over the state Senate, breaks the occasional tie vote--and typically
spends lots of time running for governor.

Reams promises not to run for any other office if he somehow gets
elected. "I'm not promoting a political career," he said. "I'm
promoting a platform."

Reams has raised a little more than $15,000 for his campaign thus
far, and is not expected to carry more than 5 percent of the vote on
Election Day.

That's fine with him. Reams merely wants people to vote for him as a
way of showing major-party politicians that reforming marijuana laws
should be a legitimate issue.

His lack of money doesn't help, however. Without cash to spend on
advertising, Reams' said his message will have to spread through
word-of-mouth.

He does have a Web site, though: reamsreeferendum.com.

""My biggest hurdle is exposure," he said. "We really are a
grassroots campaign--excuse the pun."