LAWMAKER WANTS TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEFENSE

A Republican lawmaker who is Rapid City's former police chief has
introduced a bill to allow a person charged with marijuana possession to
present a medicinal need for the drug as a legal defense.

The bill will be discussed in the House Judiciary Committee this morning.

The measure stops short of legalizing medicinal marijuana. A bill that
would have legalized the drug for medicinal use died earlier this week in a
Senate committee.

Rep. Tom Hennies' bill would allow medical necessity to be used as a
defense in cases involving possession of marijuana, if a person:

Has a condition that's recognized by medical experts as one for which
marijuana may offer some relief, or:

Has a recommendation from a doctor to use marijuana for a medical condition.

The bill also would allow the defendant to call expert witnesses and
present testimony from doctors as well as from patients with similar
conditions.

"People need to understand that there are people in this state really
hurting, and we're allowed to give them morphine or Darvon -- very serious
drugs -- but we can't give them marijuana because of a national paranoia,"
Hennies said. "People expect cops and judges to use common sense. This bill
just reinforces that."

The state president of a national organization seeking to reform marijuana
laws applauded the bill.

"What the bill does, is take all the decision making on medicinal marijuana
out of the hands of the Legislature, and put it where it belongs -- with
local juries of an accused person's peers," said Bob Newland, president of
the South Dakota chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Hennies, who retired as Rapid City's police chief in 1999 after a 35-year
career, said he's optimistic his bill will become law. He said it is not a
call for legalization.

"We should allow doctors to prescribe it, and pharmacists to hand it out.
Then we don't make it a back-alley operation," Hennies said. "It would be
controlled."

Hennies' measure would come into play only after an arrest.

"Right now, defendants have a right to call medical experts if a judge
allows," Newland said. "But I don't know of a single case where a judge has
allowed a medical defense."

But House Majority Leader Bill Peterson, R-Sioux Falls, is skeptical.

"I think there's some real danger here, on opening up the door for
legalization of marijuana," Peterson said.

Before the legislative session, Peterson said he spoke to several doctors
about the ethical questions surrounding the medicinal use of marijuana. He
said he learned there are pharmaceuticals available that are more efficient
and effective.

Peterson is also concerned about enforcement, and pointed to problems
encountered in California, where medicinal marijuana use is allowed. He
said police there are struggling with the issue.

"I respect Tom Hennies greatly," Peterson said. "And I know he wouldn't
bring it forward if he didn't think it would be good public policy."

While a police chief, Hennies said he encountered a person who struggled
with a disability, and carried a statement from a doctor that attested to
his need for marijuana.

"I told my officers we had more to do than go after this guy," Hennies
said. "As far as I know, they never have."

Area law enforcement officials are wary of the bill.

"Our police department will not be supporting this bill," said Sioux Falls
Police Chief Clark Quiring. "It's in conflict with current state and
federal laws."

Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead said he also is worried the bill may
lead to the legalization of medical marijuana, which he's not ready to see.

"If there is a truly documented medical need, they should try to figure out
a way to use the drug under close clinical supervision."

He's concerned that someone under the influence of marijuana will become a
danger to the public: Speed through a school zone, operate heavy machinery,
or carry a concealed weapon.

"There are a lot of risks involved in moving that way," he said. "The
rewards would be to a very few. The risk to the rest of the public, are many."