LOCKYER HOPES TO ENFORCE STATE MEDICAL POT LAW

Prop. 215 On new attorney general's agenda

When Bill Lockyer takes on his new job as state attorney general this week,
one of his top priorities -- and biggest challenges -- will be enforcing the
voter-approved medical marijuana initiative.

Lockyer's support of the marijuana initiative is part of an agenda he plans
to pursue that would dramatically change one of the state's most powerful
offices.

His predecessor, Dan Lungren, made crime, prisons and victims' rights the
centerpiece of his administration. But Lockyer said his mission includes not
only combatting crime, but reviving environmental and civil rights
protections, areas that he said were badly neglected by Lungren.

One of his toughest tasks will be enforcing Proposition 215, the 1996
initiative that legalized the possession and use of marijuana for medical
purposes.

Fulfilling that goal may also require a minor political miracle, because the
Clinton administration has not budged from its stand that marijuana is an
outlawed substance under federal law.

The initiative passed by a margin of nearly 1 million votes. But no sooner
did pot clubs open for business than Lungren, joined by federal and local
law enforcement agencies, moved to shut them down. Eventually, federal
judges ordered the shutdown of a number of pot clubs, including those in San
Francisco, Oakland and Santa Cruz.

Facing formidable opposition from the federal government, Lockyer
acknowledges that making marijuana available for medical purposes will
involve working with the Justice Department to resolve conflicts with
federal law.

He also said there must be tighter regulation of the clubs. "We need to
operate clinics, not cults," he said.

But he said Lungren, in his quest to close down the clubs, was unwilling to
reach any compromise. The departing attorney general seemed driven by a
"zealous determination to not even allow this medical experiment," Lockyer
said.

Although California pot clubs have been under siege, the use of marijuana
for medical purposes is gaining momentum outside the state. In the November
election, voters in five states -- Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington -- passed laws authorizing the use of medical marijuana for
people with cancer and AIDS.

A spokesman for the Justice Department said federal officials had not been
contacted by Lockyer about the medical marijuana issue, but that they are
more than willing to talk to him about it.

But Nicholas Gess, director of intergovernmental affairs for the U.S.
attorney general's office, stressed that the Justice Department remains
opposed to the medical use of marijuana. "Our policy has not changed one
iota," Gess said. Under federal law, he said, "one cannot cultivate, possess
or distribute marijuana in the United States."

If he can resolve the differences with the federal government, Lockyer
envisions the attorney general playing a supporting role by helping local
law enforcement enforce their own policies on pot clubs.

He said he voted for the initiative because of his own personal losses. His
mother died of leukemia at age 50. "My little sister died of leukemia at age
39," he said.

After seeing them suffer through terminal illnesses, he said, "I concluded
that if we can give them morphine, why can't we give them marijuana?"

The medical marijuana issue is just one on a list of changes Lockyer plans
to make when he takes over as attorney general, which is widely viewed as
the second-most powerful office in the state.

The attorney general oversees 924 lawyers and a budget of nearly half a
billion dollars. In addition to defending death penalties, the state's chief
lawyer also is a prime mover in shaping state policies on issues as varied
as environmental standards and state gambling laws.

The office served as a springboard for three governors: Earl Warren, Edmund
G. "Pat" Brown and George Deukmejian.

Lockyer, 57, brings to the job 26 years as a state lawmaker, experience that
is expected to help him push through legislation. Representing the East Bay,
Lockyer was instrumental in bringing about changes to the legal system
during his 10 years as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He became
Senate President Pro Tem four years ago. Forced out by term limits, he
defeated Republican Dave Stirling in November after a hard-fought race for
attorney general.

Former Attorney General John Van de Kamp said Lockyer's legislative
experience "should be a tremendous advantage to his department."

"As long as he deals with lawmakers as colleagues, he'll be fine," Van de
Kamp said.

Former Assemblyman Phil Isenberg, who is working on the budget for
Governor-elect Gray Davis, said Lockyer has invaluable knowledge of the
inner workings of government. "There is no learning curve for Bill Lockyer,"
Isenberg said. "He knows it now."

As an administrator, Lockyer plans to push the state personnel division for
higher salaries for his employees. The relatively low pay for state lawyers,
who start out at $38,000 a year, as well as equally low salaries for
investigators, has hurt morale and led to good people leaving the office.

In his budget request submitted a few weeks ago, Lockyer is seeking an extra
$25 million to hire more lawyers and to improve the state's crime labs. Part
of the money will bolster the civil rights division, where, Lockyer noted,
Lungren cut the staff from 12 attorneys down to one. "The office was
virtually eliminated," he said.

He also faulted Lungren for not cracking down on environmental polluters.
Although Van de Kamp filed roughly 200 legal actions over environmental
violations that were independent of any actions by other state agencies,
Lungren brought fewer than 20, Lockyer said.

"It's not so much beefing up the lawyers," he said. "It's giving them the
green light. Lockyer said several environmental lawyers told him that they
were frequently told to drop potential suits on which they were working.