COUNTY TO SEEK FEDERAL APPROVAL

REDWOOD CITY - County of officials plan to apply to the federal government
March 1 for permission to study whether marijuana can really ease the
suffering of the critically ill.

In May 1998, the Board of Supervisors voted to spend $50,000 designing the
three-year study. Officials said they hope it Will give scientific proof to
supplement anecdotal evidence that marijuana can aid those with diseases
such as AIDS, cancer and glaucoma.

They also hope to use the study to eventually receive federal permission to
distribute marijuana for medicinal uses.

Officials expect to find out by April 1 if they will be allowed to proceed
with the clinical study, said Supervisor Michael Nevin, who made it his
mission in 1997 to put Proposition 215 into play by having The County
distribute the drug.

Prop. 215, passed by state voters in 1996, allowed use of marijuana for
medical purposes.

"It's the correct thing to do, no matter what the political view is," Nevin
said.

The study is designed to include between 500 and 1,000 patients. Last year,
it was estimated that 175,000 people in The County qualify for medical
marijuana as defined in Prop. 215.

Officials estimate the study will cost $500,000 over three Years and will
be conducted in San Mateo County under the auspices of the federal
government, Nevin said.

County officials will be applying for permission from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the National
Institute on Drug Abuse.

Nevin also has been named to a subcommittee of state Attorney General Bill
Lockyer's task force on Prop. 215. His committee is looking into the
possible source and distribution of medical marijuana.

Implementation of Prop. 215 has proven difficult. Former state Attorney
General Dan Lungren
closed down cannabis clubs, saying they didn't meet the qualifications for
a "primary caregiver" defined in Prop. 215.

An earlier County proposal met with the same fate.

County Health Services Director Margaret Taylor has said this clinical
study is the only way The County will be able to provide marijuana for the
ill.

Supervisor Jerry Hill said he was "excited" about the possibility of the
clinical trials.

"I think it's a wonderful idea. I hope we can make some headway," he said.