ARIZONANS BACK DOCS' ABILITY TO PRESCRIBE POT

PHOENIX - A large majority of Arizonans opposes revoking the
prescription-writing licenses of doctors who prescribe marijuana, a recent
poll found.

The statewide survey shows 66 percent were opposed to license revocation
while 27 percent supported it.

The survey comes more than two years after Arizona voters changed the law to
allow doctors to prescribe otherwise illegal drugs, ranging from marijuana
to LSD to heroin, to treat illness and relieve pain.

Last November, voters rejected legislative revisions of the law.

But federal officials have warned doctors that they risk losing their right
to prescribe drugs if they write such prescriptions, even if specifically
allowed by state law.

There have been no reported cases of Arizona doctors actually writing
prescriptions for these drugs.

Pollster Earl deBerge of the Behavior Research Center said the survey
results show Arizonans want to change the federal policy.

He also noted that the survey, conducted last month, comes on the heels of a
federally commissioned study that suggests marijuana may be beneficial for
pain relief, nausea control and appetite stimulation.

Chuck Blanchard, chief counsel to the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said the survey is based on a flawed premise.

``There has not been one doctor whose license has been even threatened,''
Blanchard said. ``The great scare that a lot of people claim we're imposing
is not a reality.''

But Blanchard, an Arizona state senator before he took the post in
Washington, acknowledged that the law allowing the Drug Enforcement
Administration to revoke prescription-writing privileges remains on the
books - and probably remains a deterrent for doctors.

He said enforcement actions in California, where voters approved a similar
law, have not been taken against doctors. Instead, federal officials have
filed civil suits to close the ``cannabis clubs'' that sprang up to supply
marijuana.

The California law, though, has a key difference: It requires only that a
doctor recommend marijuana. In Arizona, a doctor would have to actually
prescribe it.

The survey of 708 adult heads of household has a margin of error of 3.7
percent.