LEGALIZING OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS URGED

It was no coincidence the Therapeutic Humane Cannabis Political Issues
Committee chose Valentine's Day to launch its petition drive for legalizing
medicinal marijuana use.

"We chose Valentine's Day because this issue demands compassion," committee
member Ben Valdez Jr. said. "It's a higher calling to love those we don't
know."

The organization, abbreviated simply as THC (which is also the acronym for
the most active ingredient in marijuana), views legalized marijuana use as
a humanity issue because some cancer and terminally ill patients have found
the main component of marijuana eases their nausea and sparks hunger. If
the group got its way, doctors would be allowed to write prescriptions for
marijuana for patients in serious pain without fear of prosecution.

It's no different from a physician prescribing a bottle of Lortab or
morphine, said THC Chairman Ken Larsen.

"Just about every chemical on the planet has medical application," Larsen
said. "I don't think it's government's or society's job to second-guess a
doctor who we presume is a professional."

In order to get its proposal on the November 2002 general election, THC
must garner 76,000 signatures from registered Utah voters -- a hefty task
considering it has only about 240 so far and a little more than a year
before the June 1, 2002, deadline.

THC was heartened by the passage of ballot proposition 215 in 1996 by
California voters, but the Utah Attorney General's office said THC
shouldn't expect any TLC from Utah voters.

"The predominant philosophy towards marijuana is that there's not enough
data to support medical applications. No one in state government is ready
to accept marijuana as medicine," said Scott Reed, consumer rights division
chief and former narcotics enforcement specialist for the attorney general.
"There's not any great excitement or anticipation for this (petition drive)."

In 1999, the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice recorded 1,188
arrests for marijuana possession. Although the ballot initiative would only
provide for prescription marijuana and not completely legalize the drug, it
would make it more difficult to prosecute charges of possession, Larsen
conceded.