P.M. LAWMAKERS TAKE TESTIMONY ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor
aired their differences over using marijuana for medical purposes Wednesday,
while the personal, legal and scientific facets of the issue intertwined in
testimony before a panel of legislators.

"I believe that we as Vermonters need to ask ourselves whether it makes any
sense for Vermonters with life-threatening illnesses to face arrest or legal
penalties for the simple act of taking a natural medicine that relieves
their suffering," Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, the Democratic candidate
for governor, told lawmakers.

"It sends a mixed message to young people in our state," said Gov. James
Douglas, the Republican incumbent, said at his weekly news conference.

Both men were referring to a bill in front of the Health and Welfare
Committee that would exempt patients with certain chronic conditions or
illnesses - cancer, HIV or glaucoma, for example - from arrest and
prosecution for possession of limited amounts of marijuana.

The committee spent the day taking testimony on the bill, which was approved
by the Senate last year.

"If the intent of the legislation is to decriminalize marijuana, just do
it," said Dr. Jamie O'Brien, president of the Vermont Medical Society.
"Don't dress it up as medicinal."

O'Brien said the evidence claiming the efficacy of marijuana as a pain
reliever was too anecdotal for him to support the bill.

Commissioner of Public Safety Kerry Sleeper said the measure, if passed,
would cause an increase in petty crime and a proliferation of the drug trade
in Vermont.

"You cannot debate this legislation without realizing the lack of adequate
controls," he said.

Rep. David Zuckerman, P-Burlington, called such statements "myths based on
fear."

"Hopefully we can get it to the (House) floor," said Zuckerman, who is
sponsoring the legislation.

That assessment was not shared by Thomas Koch - the Barre Republican who
chairs the committee - and Douglas, who said he hoped to work with
legislators to keep the bill from reaching his desk.

At his news conference Douglas defended his support of a bill to
decriminalize up to one ounce of marijuana when he was a state
representative in 1978. He said he voted for the measure because of the
impact people arrested for drugs were having on the corrections system.