ELECTED TO MAKE THE BIG DECISIONS

BY QUICKLY punting the controversial issue of assisted suicide to the
voters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger provided a reminder of how
complicated the issue is and how uneasy it can make people. In
matters of life and death, nothing is simple.

But as Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, pointed out, "The
governor was elected to make tough decisions."

"I personally think it's a decision that probably should go to the
people, like the death penalty," the governor said during a meeting
at the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday. "I don't think that we, 120
legislators and I, should make that decision."

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's recent stand to uphold Oregon's
assisted-suicide law, a group of California legislators and advocates
are hoping to revive AB651, the Compassionate Choices Act, which
Levine co-sponsored with Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, and is
modeled after Oregon's Death With Dignity law. The bill will go
before the state Senate Judiciary Committee in March.

The governor's reaction when faced with the topic was understandable,
and even sympathetic. Most people would agree that politicians have
no place intervening in such deeply personal decisions. But a law is
necessary to make sure Californians are able to maintain control of
these decisions, in consultation with their doctors.

What the Legislature does have a place in -- and an obligation to --
however, is ensuring that assisted suicide doesn't suffer the same
massive pitfalls and chaos that medical marijuana is now seeing.

The 1996 passage of Proposition 215 was to guarantee that "seriously
ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for
medical purposes." The well-intended issue was left for the voters to
decide, while most local governments apparently chose to look the other way.

Since then, the lack of clear regulation and the uncontrolled growth
of pot clubs have all but buried the legitimacy, as well as the noble
concept, of the system.

Assisted suicide, much like medical marijuana, is a concept that most
voters would sympathize with and support. In fact, Field polls dating
back to 1979 have shown at least 64 percent of those surveyed have
supported the idea. The latest poll, according to the Los Angeles
Times, in February 2005, showed 70 percent of those surveyed in favor.

But what medical marijuana has proven is the crucial need for a
regulated process and accountability. An issue that is literally a
matter of life and death deserves the scrutiny and debate that only
legislative hearings can provide. During these hearings, legislators
can review the Oregon law and examine which elements have worked and
which have not.

Terminally ill patients can't afford to get lost in a system as
chaotic and unsupervised as what medical marijuana's so-called system
has become.

A proper process put in place by the Legislature can ensure that
these patients have some sense of peace and take comfort in their final days.