PROPOSAL EXPANDS POT LAW'S LATITUDE

Medical marijuana patients could grow more plants, possess larger
quantities of cannabis and use the drug to treat "any medical condition" if
their doctor, naturopath or nurse-practitioner thought it would help, under
a bill introduced by a Portland legislator.

The legislation merely makes minor changes to Oregon's ground-breaking
medical marijuana act so it works more smoothly for patients and law
enforcement, said its prime sponsor, Rep. Jo Ann Bowman, D-Portland.

"This bill is a minor tweaking bill," she said.

Law enforcement officials aren't so sure.

Lobbyists for prosecutors, police chiefs and sheriffs were largely
noncommittal until they had a chance to read the bill, but one vocal critic
of the law was skeptical.

"I would suspect that law enforcement would have huge concerns with this
measure," Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Noelle said.

Voters approved the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act in 1998. The law permits
patients suffering from specific ailments and symptoms to grow and use
marijuana, provided that their doctor signs a chart note or a form provided
by the state Health Division.

Patients who are unable to or don't want to grow their own plants may
designate a caregiver to grow for them. Approved patients and caregivers
are issued a card by the state Health Division, which must be renewed
annually. More than 1,600 patients have received cards to date.

The proposed changes included in Bowman's legislation, House Bill 3919, are
based on a series of round-table meetings conducted last fall by the Stormy
Ray Foundation, a patient advocacy group, said Lee Berger, a Portland attorney.

As drafted, Bowman's bill would:

Allow naturopaths and nurse-practitioners to attest that their patients
could benefit from the use or marijuana. Existing law permits only medical
doctors and osteopaths to sign for their patients. Naturopaths and
nurse-practitioners are permitted to prescribe drugs under current law.

Allow patients to use marijuana for "any medical condition," so long as
their health care provider believed it could help. Current law permits
marijuana use for a few specific illnesses and symptoms, including cancer,
glaucoma, HIV and AIDS, pain, nausea, seizures and muscle spasms.

Increase the number of plants that card-holders or their designated
caregivers could grow, from three mature plants and four immature plants,
to five mature and five immature plants. It also would increase the amount
of marijuana that a grower could possess, from 3 ounces to 10 ounces.

Permit up to three medical marijuana card-holders to possess up to 10
plants each, plus one ounce of usable marijuana for each plant, at one
location. That means three card-holders could grow 30 plants and possess 30
ounces of dried marijuana - nearly two pounds - in one location. The bill
would fix what advocates and patients have said is one of the law's biggest
failings: the difficulty in obtaining a steady, reliable supply of
marijuana. The current plant limitation, for instance, permits little
margin for error if a plant dies.

Bowman said she doesn't expect any major opposition to her bill, since it
just makes "common sense tweaks" to existing law.

Rep. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, serves on the House Judiciary Committee, where
Bowman's bill is expected to be assigned. She agreed that the suggested
changes amounted to common sense ways to make the law work better.

"Not a lot of states have done this, and it's clear we're going to have
some kinks to work out in how the law is administered and how people get
the care they need," she said.

Marion County District Attorney Dale Penn attended some of the round-table
meetings but said he hasn't yet seen Bowman's bill and doesn't know what
position law enforcement would take.

"Our main concern is we don't want to see medical marijuana misused by
commercial dealers and illegal marijuana enterprises," he said. "We don't
want a process that can be used as a shield by illegal marijuana growers."

Noelle, the Multnomah County sheriff, was a vocal critic of the original
ballot initiative and is deeply skeptical of Bowman's bill, particularly
the language that allows patients to receive a card to use marijuana for
"any medical condition."

"That could be male pattern baldness," he said.

He's also concerned about increasing the number of plants that could be
grown by or on behalf of patients.

"Thirty plants is a big grow," he said.

Bowman introduced another bill, called a "joint memorial," that would urge
Congress to reclassify marijuana from its status as a drug with no medical
benefits to one that could be prescribed.

A similar bill died in the House in 1998.

Bowman said she declined to introduce another bill that the Stormy Ray
group suggested that would have directed the state Health Division to
establish and regulate medical marijuana "dispensaries," where cardholders
could go to buy marijuana.

She thought it would be too controversial.

"It would cloud everything else we were trying to do," she said.

Voter Power, a Portland group that advocates for medical marijuana
patients, plans to file an initiative in 2002 to establish the
dispensaries, said attorney Berger, who advises Voter Power.