BUSH SETS STANCE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS

WASHINGTON - Gov. George Bush said he backs a state's right to decide
whether to allow medical use of marijuana, a position that puts him sharply
at odds with Republicans on Capitol Hill. "I believe each state can choose
that decision as they so choose," the governor said recently in Seattle in
response to a reporter's question.

Aides said Bush dose not support legalizing marijuana for medical use. But
his position supporting state self-determination opens the door to medical
marijuana use in some places. President Clinton and most Republican
lawmakers, by contrast, oppose all state medical marijuana legalization
laws, saying they could lead to abuse.

But Clinton - in a move philosophically in tune with Bush - has said
Republicans in Congress went to far in seeking to block the District of
Columbia's medical marijuana ballot initiative, which won 69 percent support
last year.