COUNCILMAN MIGHT SUPPORT USE OF MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL REASONS

'I Wouldn't Dismiss It Out of Hand,' Mid-Island Republican Oddo Says
of Measure After City Hall Hearing

City Councilman James Oddo is keeping an open mind about whether he
will support a measure that would allow New Yorkers to smoke marijuana
for medical reasons.

"I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand," said Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn),
a member of the Council's Health Committee, following its hearing on
medical marijuana yesterday.

The hearing was specifically about whether the Council should approve
a nonbinding resolution calling on the Legislature to approve a bill
that would legalize medical marijuana.

The bill, introduced in the Assembly by Richard Gottfried
(D-Manhattan), would permit the use of marijuana to relieve symptoms
related to serious medical conditions.

Recent studies have shown that patients who suffer from HIV/AIDS,
glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cancer and other illnesses may
benefit from the use of marijuana, which has been shown to be
effective in combating severe pain, nausea, vomiting and appetite loss.

These beneficial properties are found in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,
marijuana's active ingredient.

A synthetic version of THC is available in pill form, but patients and
medical experts say the pill version is less effective than smoked
marijuana.

The Gottfried bill would set up a regulated marijuana program in which
a patient would be able to use the drug if a doctor certifies the
patient would benefit from it.

To prevent abuse, the measure would require doctors to file reports
with the state Health Department on all patients certified to use
marijuana. Also, the Health Department would have to issue a report on
the impact of marijuana legalization every two years.

Yesterday's Council hearing included pro-marijuana testimony from
medical experts and from lay people who have experienced the medical
benefits of marijuana.

The witnesses included Richard Brookhiser, a senior editor at the
conservative magazine National Review, who told the committee how he
smoked marijuana to relieve the nausea caused by chemotherapy he took
to treat his testicular cancer.

Also testifying was Anne Wilson, the sister of a now-deceased cancer
patient who found that marijuana was the only drug that alleviated his
constant pain and nausea.

'Potential to Ease Pain'

"How can we deny marijuana to our friends and loved ones when it has
the potential to ease their pain and to possibly prolong their lives?"
asked a tearful Ms. Wilson, a Bronx resident who implored the
committee to approve the resolution endorsing Gottfried's bill.

"I ask you to please send a positive message to Albany requesting the
legalization of medicinal marijuana," Ms. Wilson pleaded.

After the hearing, Oddo said he understood the pro-compassion
arguments made by medical marijuana supporters.

"On an emotional level, I understand someone wanting to alleviate a
loved one's pain," said Oddo, the leader of the Council's Republican
minority.

But Oddo said he was undecided whether to support the resolution
because he wants to hear more testimony about how Gottfried's bill
would be put into effect.

"I have some serious questions about how you implement this," said
Oddo, who added he was worried about the measure creating an
"open-ended" situation in which people without legitimate medical
problems are allowed to obtain marijuana.

Oddo's Island colleagues, Councilmen from Staten Island, Andrew Lanza
(R-South Shore) and Michael McMahon (D-North Shore), were not at
yesterday's hearing because they are not on the Health Committee.

McMahon and Lanza they couldn't comment on the particulars of the
resolution because they hadn't had a chance to study it. But both men
said they were inclined to support some form of legalization of
marijuana for people with serious illnesses.

"If people in that condition can have their suffering alleviated by
marijuana, then who am I to oppose it?" McMahon asked.

"I've got no opposition to that sort of defined, narrow use," Lanza
said.

Although Oddo is undecided, the resolution already has the support of
the other six members of the Health Committee. The panel will likely
approve the resolution this spring and send it to the full Council,
which is also likely to approve it.

But because the resolution is non-binding, medical marijuana won't be
legal in New York state unless Gottfried's bill passes the Assembly
and the state Senate and is signed into law.

The bill, co-sponsored by John Lavelle (D-North Shore), is expected to
be approved by the Democratic-controlled Assembly. But it faces an
uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.

A spokesman for Staten Island state Sen. John Marchi said the veteran
senator has not committed himself to a position on the bill.

"He certainly would examine it carefully," said the spokesman, Jerry
McLaughlin.