POLITICS WRAP-UP: GORE ON MEDICINAL MARIJUANA:

Vice President Al Gore said during a televised forum Tuesday night that he
is open to the idea of letting doctors prescribe marijuana.

An audience member asked Gore during the WNDS-TV forum in Derry, N.H.,
whether states should have the authority to decide whether marijuana can be
prescribed for medical uses.

In response, Gore said his sister died of cancer in 1984 and that her doctor
had prescribed marijuana for her. She refused to take it, but Gore said, "If
it had worked for her, then I think she should have had the ability to get
her pain relieved that way."

The Democratic presidential candidate added: "I do not favor legalizing
marijuana. But where you have sufficient controls, I think doctors ought to
have that option."

The comments put Gore on an equal footing with Bill Bradley, his rival for
the Democratic nomination, who said during the same forum two weeks ago that
he would consider supporting the medicinal use of marijuana after further
study.