HOUSE PANEL REFUSES TO BACK MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USE

Supporters came in wheelchairs and with walking sticks to push
legislation that would allow the medical use of marijuana, but they
left the state Capitol disappointed Thursday.

The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee declined to
recommend passage of House Bill 1303 by state Rep. Jim Lendall,
D-Mabelvale. Opponents expressed fears that the measure would make it
harder for law enforcement to prosecute illegal marijuana trafficking
and could harm those who want to use the drug to treat their ailments.

Betty Wicker of Imboden said the drug was the only thing that gave
her relief from cerebral palsy, which she said was caused when she
fell from a horse. "I have had more seizures in this last year since
I quit taking marijuana," Wicker said. "Doctors have had me on
morphine and tranquilizers, but none of them seems to keep me from
having seizures as the marijuana did." She trembled violently as she
spoke into the microphone. She said her palsy caused the trembling.

Wicker told the committee that she stopped using marijuana after
police arrested her last year for possession of marijuana after they
responded to a domestic disturbance at her niece's home.

She said that in 1993, a doctor told her she should start taking the
drug to treat herself.

Reps. Shawn Womack, R-Mountain Home, and Bill Scrimshire, D-Malvern,
pointed out that the Federal Drug Administration has approved the use
of Marinol, which can be prescribed and is composed primarily of
tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, a component of
marijuana. Several of those with ailments who were present said
Marinol did not give them the same relief. They said they couldn't
control the dosage, it was costly and it made them nauseous, causing
them to regurgitate the pills in some instances.

Speaking from a wheelchair, John Markes of Conway, a disabled
veteran, said he had been diagnosed with a digestive disorder that
caused him to lose 75 pounds. After a doctor told him to try
marijuana, he gained 28 pounds in the first month, he said.

He said he wanted to try Marinol, but the doctor told him he would
need to have a good digestive system to receive the benefits of
Marinol. The legislative activity regarding medical marijuana in
Arkansas follows ballot successes last November in Colorado and
Nevada, where voters approved the use of marijuana for medical
purposes. The movement has gained momentum for such use of marijuana
since California voters allowed cooperatives to buy marijuana to
treat ailments in 1996. Since then, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine,
Oregon and Washington, D.C., voters have passed similar measures,
according to press accounts. The U.S. Supreme Court in November of
last year agreed to weigh the legality of California's law. The case
is pending.

Lendall failed to convince the Legislature to pass a similar bill
during the 1999 legislative session. He said he will talk to
committee members before deciding whether to make another try at
passing the measure this year. Fay Boozman, director of the Arkansas
Health Department, told the committee that his agency thinks more
research is needed on the issue. He added that he feared passage of
the bill would require additional resources so his agency could weed
out illegal drug traffickers from those legitimately seeking
treatment.

Lendall's bill would authorize the department to issue identification
cards to those 18 and over if a doctor decides they should use
marijuana for medical reasons.

Possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is now a misdemeanor
punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine not exceeding $1,000.
The smoking of marijuana actually will cause more harm than benefits
for the ill, predicted Ken Fithen of Sherwood, the associate director
of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council. He said the inhalation of
smoke is dangerous when cigarettes are involved and even more
dangerous with marijuana. Denele Campbell, who lives near West Fork
and is executive director of the Alliance for the Reform of Drug
Policies in Arkansas, said her group will continue gathering
signatures in an effort to force a statewide referendum on whether
marijuana can be used for medicine. The group failed to get enough
signatures to put such an initiative on the ballot last year.