MEDICINAL WEED MAKES A STAND IN TALLAHASSEE

Local voters last Tuesday got a whiff of the politics of pot.

About 1,500 people signed petitions at polling places to put on the
ballot in 2000 a statewide referendum on legalizing the medical use of
marijuana.

The effort was headed by Ross and Candace Dormon, owners of Epitome
Coffee House off Tennessee Street. Besides a sign-up sheet in the
coffee shop, the Dormons had 14 people collecting signatures on
Election Day.

"I was excited by what we did here," said Ross Dormon. "Of course, I
wish we'd have had some more people out there."

The Dormons are working with the Fort Lauderdale-based Floridians for
Medical Rights, which needs 435,000 signatures by Aug. 1, 2000, to get
the issue on the ballot. So far, statewide volunteers have collected
more than 20,000.

"It's coming in in drips and drabs," said Toni Leeman, the group's
chairwoman. "It's not a problem of getting the people to sign. What
has been a problem is being able to do it on a regular basis."

Studies have indicated that marijuana could be used to treat a wide
range of ailments, including arthritis, glaucoma and lessen the
symptoms of AIDS and the side effects of cancer treatment.

Voters in five Western states -- Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Nevada
and Alaska -- approved such a referendum Tuesday.

Similar referendums were proposed in Colorado and Washington, D.C.,
but failed for technical reasons. In Colorado, elections officials
invalidated many of the petitions and disqualified the election after
the ballot went out. In Washington, D.C., the referendum was held, but
Congress forbade election officials from releasing the results.

Federal officials do not believe marijuana carries any medical
benefits and have threatened doctors in California -- which passed its
own referendum two years ago -- with losing their ability to prescribe
medicine if they prescribe marijuana. -- David Twiddy