CONFUSION BEGINS TO SURFACE OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) -- Mike Assenberg says he's just the kind of person
Oregon's new medical marijuana law was designed to protect.

Disabled since being hit by a baseball bat in 1985, he says he is in
constant pain and the marijuana lets him cut down on the painkilling
prescription drugs he takes.

He crossed the line when he tried to light up in a pizza parlor but is
threatening to sue anyway.

David Mahnke, chief executive officer of Abby's Legendary Pizza, says he
sympathizes with people in pain.

But as for smoking it in Abby's?

"It's absolutely forbidden," Mahnke said. "I don't think it's a good idea
for small children, sitting in a family restaurant, to be around people
smoking medicinal marijuana."

The tiff is an early indication of confusion over the meaning of the new law.

Assenberg has threatened to sue Abby's, claiming that both the state law
and the Americans With Disabilities Act guarantee him the right to smoke
marijuana in public.

In fact, Oregon's medicinal marijuana law expressly forbids smoking the
drug in public. And the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal law,
views marijuana as a dangerous and illegal drug.

The law, passed by Oregon voters in November, allows people who have
certain medical conditions, including severe pain, to use marijuana to
relieve their symptoms and permits them to possess small amounts.

The Abby's incident arose on New Year's Eve, when Assenberg and his wife
went there for dinner.

Assenberg, a Waldport resident, said he asked the manager for permission to
smoke medicinal marijuana and was refused. Assenberg then called Newport
police to report a violation of his rights under the Americans With
Disabilities Act.

Police officers interviewed him and did not arrest him for possession of
marijuana.

Jim Rivers, Newport police chief, said he's not sure of all of the details
of the law.

"I personally haven't read a full draft of it," he said. "I think we
handled the call as responsibly and professionally as possible."

Rivers, like Mahnke, said he has sympathy for people who need drugs to
control pain.

"I'm not interested in arresting people who say they need medicinal
marijuana," he said.

But the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the Americans With
Disabilities Act, has no such qualms. To them, marijuana is illegal. Period.

Supporters of Oregon's medicinal marijuana law also say Assenberg has no
right to smoke marijuana in public.

"When we wrote the law, we considered this issue," said Goeff Sugerman,
spokesman for Oregonians for Medical Rights. "We wrote the law so that it
very clearly states that using medicinal marijuana in public places is not
allowed."

Assenberg, 38, says he's been in too much pain to hold a steady job since
1985. His hobby, he said, is helping to locate missing children through a
computer bulletin board he operates.

He said he has offered Mahnke a choice: Settle for $2,000, the amount
needed to buy a new computer, or face a $2 million lawsuit.

Mahnke, whose Roseburg-based company owns or operates 35 pizza restaurants,
recalls the conversation: "I told him he wouldn't be getting a new
computer."