Website introduction:
DC & MEDICAL MARIJUANA -- Carol Van Dam reports that more than a month
after Washington DC voters cast their ballots in a referendum to legalize
marijuana for medical purposes, no one knows the outcome of the vote.
That's because shortly before the November election, Congress added an
amendment to the city's budget barring it from spending any money on the
medical marijuana initiative. But the city couldn't stop the vote from
taking place, because the ballots - with the initiative on them - had
already been printed. DC officials say the amendment is an unconstitutional
interference in their right to hold a local election and they and the ACLU
have filed suit to allow the results to be revealed.

TRANSCRIPT of segment on I-59, the DC medical marijuana Initiative from
NPR's All Things Considered-Air Date 12.14.98. The segment aired at 1 hour
and 20 minutes into the show.

LEAD IN: Its been a month since voters in the District of Colombia cast
their ballots in a legally binding referendum to legalize marijuana for
seriously ill patients. No one knows the outcome of the initiative, even
though all it takes is the press of a button. That button may never be
pressed if a judge stands behind a new law forbidding the district to spend
as much as one dime on the medical marijuana initiative.

Carol Van Dam filed this report.

For Wayne Turner, legalizing marijuana for medical purposes used to be a
patients rights issue. But when he saw his partner, Steve Michael suffer
from what's called "the wasting syndrome", a byproduct of AIDS, the drive
for the medical marijuana initiative got personal for Turner:

(Turner #1 643 He went from 185 to about 110 in 2 and a half months. So he
used just a little bit of marijuana and he didn't like it. He didn't like
the smell or the taste, but it was enough to get him to eat. That bought us
a couple of extra months at the end of his life.")

The medical community is undecided on the value of marijuana.

Michael, who died in May, was the sponsor of a ballot initiative to
legalize the possession and distribution of marijuana for the seriously
ill. If approved, the measure would also force the city to provide poor
patients with affordable marijuana. Shortly before his death, Michael
removed his name as sponsor of the drive and added Turner's; knowing the
sponsor had to be a living DC resident. And, he made Turner promise to
never give up the fight:

(Turner #2: 656) "His death really mobilized people in a very powerful way.
Part of our AIDS activism is turning grief into action. And I lost Steve. I
mean I watched him suffer. I wasn't gonna lose his initiative too.")

But Turner has been unable to make good on that promise because of
legislation introduced by Representative Bob Barr of Georgia. Barr says
medical marijuana initiatives are simply a back door attempt to legalize
illicit drugs. Barr saw the DC referendum as an opportunity to do
something about it.

Unlike any state, the district budget must be approved by congress. So
Barr inserted into the DC budget bill an amendment banning the city from
spending any money on the medical marijuana initiative. The Georgia
lawmaker rejects assertions by DC officials that his amendment has thwarted
the will of city residents:

(Barr #1 900) What we're saying is that the federal taxpayer dollars are
not to be used to be part of an effort to legalize marijuana. That's what
this is a thinly veiled effort to legalize mind-altering drugs, namely
marijuana. My constituents, who pay federal tax dollars to support the
District of Colombia, and obviously, most taxpayers around the country
because most members voted for my amendment feel the same way. They're
simply saying you in DC do what you want but you're not using our money to
do it.").

Though Congress passed Barr's amendment on a voice vote, District residents
were able to vote for or against the initiative on Election Day because the
ballots had already been printed. Exit polls paid for by supporters show
the referendum passed overwhelming. Yet the results remain a mystery
because the district is barred from counting the votes.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit attempting to have the congressional action ruled
unconstitutional. DC chapter Executive Director Mary Jane DeFrank says
they're also trying to get the ballot results released under a freedom of
information request:

(De Frank #1 758 "We think its outrageous that district residents cast
their ballots and we are unable to find out even what the results are. But
we are also in court, suing the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, that's
who we have to sue, asking them to release the results and to certify the
results of the ballot election that we had.")

Strange as it may seem, the Board joined the ACLU in the suit against
itself, saying it agreed Congress overstepped its boundaries. In the
meantime, to comply with the new law, Alice Miller, the Board's executive
director, instructed her computer specialist not to push the button that
would spit out the results of Initiative 59. Miller says the Board is
stuck between a rock and hard place:

(Miller #1 56 "We've got two laws telling us to do two different things and
that's why we're in the position that we're in and that's why we've gone to
court to get the court to tell us what to do.")

Miller says the cost to certify the initiative would be less than 500
dollars. She says the Board has stiffed the printer for 168 dollars while
it awaits a ruling by a federal judge.

The DC Corporation Counsel, which normally defends the City against
lawsuits, represents the board of elections and ethics in the suit.
Counsel spokesman Walter Smith says the Barr amendment violates the first
amendment rights of dc residents:

(Smith #1 "This is a provision that interferes with basic political
processes. The right of the people to express their viewpoint on issues of
public importance.)

But Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, who chairs the congressional
panel that oversees all legislation involving the District, sees nothing
wrong with the Barr amendment:

(Davis #1` " I think if Congress doesn't want the city to become a drug
zone, they have a right to do that. That's Congress' purview and if
President Clinton wants to sign the bill with that in, he has the right to
do so and that's exactly what happened in this case.)

And the Clinton administration agrees with Davis. The justice department
has decided to represent congress in the suit. On the same day Dc's
Referendum was supposed to be held, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada Oregon and
Washington State all passed medical marijuana initiatives.

In DC, All sides are hoping the federal district court judge will end the
impasse once and for all. A hearing is scheduled for December 18th.

For NPR News, I'm Carol Van Dam in Washington.

Checked-by: Richard Lake