BUSH BACKS STATES' RIGHTS ON MARIJUANA

He Opposes Medical Use But Favors Local Control

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.

Chuck Thomas, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a medical
marijuana lobbying group, praised Mr. Bush as "courageous" and "consistent
on states' rights. I would hope he would be an example for Republicans in
Congress."

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

The president recently vetoed the district's $4.7 billion budget approved
by Congress, in part because of a provision to overturn the medical
marijuana law.

"For us, that's an issue of local control," of not "micromanaging local
government," said White House spokesman Jake Siewert. The veto was not
about the merits of the issue, he said.

Among the Republicans leading the charge against the district's law are GOP
House leaders and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Bush supporter and
chairwoman of the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee.

The district should not be "a haven for marijuana use, even for medicinal
purposes," Ms. Hutchison said on the Senate floor. "I don't think we should
take an illegal drug and allow it to be legalized in our capital city."

Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have approved
medical marijuana laws, giving the issue prominence in key Western states.

Mr. Bush, campaigning for president in Seattle on Saturday, told reporters
he felt certain that such a move was "not going to happen in Texas." The
state has no direct referendums or voter initiatives.

Although addressing the states' rights issue, Mr. Bush didn't comment
directly on the District of Columbia issue. His position of opposing the
medical marijuana but saying states should decide is unique among
presidential contenders, Mr. Thomas said.