ATTORNEY GENERAL BACKS PLAN TO REGULATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A bill to regulate medicinal marijuana through a
statewide user registration system has survived its first Assembly test
despite opposition from both supporters and foes of Proposition 215.

The author of Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative that attempted to
legalize marijuana use for medical purposes, said the bill would subject
patients to too much police supervision.

"When I wrote Proposition 215, I wrote it for the patients,'' said Dennis
Peron. "(The bill) is written for the cops.''

On the other side, Art Croney, lobbyist for the Committee on Moral
Concerns, described legalization of marijuana for medical purposes as "a
cruel hoax'' that would use medical patients to open the door to widespread
use of marijuana.

"I think the character of the two opponents illustrates how carefully this
measure is balanced,'' the bill's author, Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa
Clara, joked before the Assembly Health Committee approved the bill Tuesday
and sent it to the Appropriations Committee.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who endorsed Vasconcellos' measure on
Monday, was his chief support witness.

He said Proposition 215 was vaguely drafted with serious ambiguities that
Vasconcellos' measure would resolve.

"We're convinced this is a good product that will provide answers to many
unanswered questions and ... fulfill the will of the people'' who voted for
Proposition 215, Lockyer said.

However, Gov. Gray Davis' press secretary, Michael Bustamante, warned that
the bill may not have clear sailing even if it does pass through Legislature.

"This is clearly in conflict with federal law,'' Bustamante said. "Until
the federal government legalizes its use or growing, state government
should not put itself in a position of sanctioning it.''

A day earlier, Bustamante had signaled that Davis, who opposed Proposition
215, might be reassessing that position, telling reporters that Davis would
``look at it very seriously'' and be guided by whether it reflected ``good
science and good medicine.''

The purpose of the proposed state registry is to protect legitimate medical
marijuana users and growers from prosecution under state and federal laws
which prohibit the cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana.

Patients would need a doctor's recommendation that they use marijuana to
control pain, nausea or other conditions in order to win a place in the
registry and get an identification card to show officers that they were
using or possessing marijuana legally.

Former Attorney General Dan Lungren opposed any attempt to carry out the
ballot measure and supported the efforts of federal agents who shut down
many of the state's medical marijuana distribution centers.

When Lockyer took office in January, he shifted the state's position,
expressing his support for Proposition 215 and creating the 30-member task
force to try and make the law work.

Under Vasconcellos' proposal, registration cards would be issued by county
health departments to anyone with a doctor's recommendation to smoke
marijuana to relieve the symptoms of serious medical conditions such as
AIDS, anorexia, chronic pain and cancer.

Cards would also be provided to qualified caregivers, people who grow pot
for patients who are unable to grow themselves.