LEFT, RIGHT JOIN IN MEDICAL POT FIGHT

Law: Libertarians And Liberals Rally Behind Long-Shot Bill Favoring
Medicinal Marijuana.

WASHINGTON -- By their own admission, the medicinal marijuana advocates who
gathered Wednesday in a basement room of the Capitol made up a bizarre
partnership. And they agreed that their cause--getting the federal
government to butt out of states' laws on the use of marijuana for medical
purposes--was pretty much hopeless right now.

But a former aide to President Reagan and several members of
Congress--including an openly gay, die-hard liberal, a onetime Libertarian
presidential candidate and a Southern California Republican known for
wearing puka shells and surfing--said the time had come to push the matter
with a reluctant Legislature.

"Nine states have decided to allow physicians to prescribe medical
marijuana," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), one of the bipartisan authors
of HR 2592, which was introduced a year ago but has yet to make it out of
the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the floor for debate. "What our
bill does is to say [that] in those states, there will be no federal
prohibition on such use." Eight Western states--Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington--and Maine have laws letting
doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients suffering from illnesses such as
glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer. Proponents of medical
marijuana use contend that for these patients, it relieves a variety of
symptoms--including pain, nausea and loss of appetite--with minimal side
effects.

But state laws permitting medical marijuana clash with federal regulation of
illegal narcotics. That has resulted in federal prosecutions of individuals
who, under state law, have committed no crime.

In its first review of a medical marijuana initiative passed by state voters
in 1996, the California Supreme Court last week ruled unanimously that
residents who grow marijuana for personal medical use are protected from
state prosecution if they have their doctor's approval. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court, considering the California initiative last year, ruled that
marijuana offered no "medical benefits worthy of exception" to federal
anti-drug laws.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)--the former Libertarian presidential
candidate--called the denial of access to marijuana to suffering patients
"criminal."

"Where are the compassionate conservatives today? They're not here, and they
should be," Paul said, arguing that decriminalizing marijuana, which he
dubbed a "so-called illegal drug," would be restoring rights lost to federal
oversight in the early 1900s.

"Let's get over some of the stereotypes and hangovers from the '60s," said
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach--the only California Republican to
sign on to the bill so far.

Backers of the bill emphasized that its scope was very narrow--to stop
interference by federal law enforcement agencies in the distribution of
medical marijuana where states allow it. The legislation, they said, was not
meant to open the door to broader legalization of pot, although some
boosters of the bill, such as the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, have pushed for such change.

Lyn Nofziger, an aide to Reagan in both Sacramento and Washington, spoke of
his daughter's painful death from cancer a decade ago. Her suffering, he
said, was relieved only by her family's illicit acquisition of marijuana for
her use. The experience turned him into a staunch supporter of the medicinal
use of the drug, he added.

Marijuana "did not save her life, nor did we think it would," said Nofziger,
78. "But it made a portion of the last weeks of her life more bearable to
her and her family.

"An administration who claimed to be compassionate and conservative should
support this legislation. People are being denied help by others who simply
don't give a damn."

Jim Miller of Cherry Hill, N.J.--whose wife, Cheryl, 56, was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in 1971--pleaded with lawmakers to at least allow the
issue to come up for debate. It was his wife's ninth trip to the Capitol to
address the issue and likely her last, because of her condition, Miller
said.

"We're tired of hit-and-run from legislators who say marijuana is bad and
won't listen," Miller said. "It's too late for Cheryl--but there are a lot
of other Cheryls out there, and it's not too late for them."