MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL CLEARS HURDLE

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bill to regulate medicinal marijuana through a statewide
user registration system passed its first Assembly test Tuesday despite
opposition of 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 police supervision of how much marijuana they needed for medical
purposes and when and how they used it.

"When I wrote Proposition 215, I wrote it for the patients," said Dennis
Person. "(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 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 which
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.