U.S. TEMPERS REACTION AFTER 5 STATES OK MEDICINAL POT

WASHINGTON -- In the face of medical marijuana initiatives that sailed
through in five states Tuesday, federal authorities seem to be backing off
the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric they used to attack similar measures two
years ago.

Although they still are debating how to respond, federal officials said
Wednesday they never have prosecuted minor marijuana possession and probably
won't start now, although several states no longer can prosecute it under
certain circumstances.

Federal drug officials reacted so mildly in part because they are skeptical
that physicians will recommend marijuana to patients in large numbers.

"I think the doctors have been scared by the science," said Jim McDonough,
strategy director for federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey.

"They are not willing to put their name on marijuana and say, `This is
medicine.' If something happened, they would be so liable it would make your
head spin," McCaffrey said.

This is a far cry from the federal government's stern warnings of just a
week ago and from its fierce reaction in 1996 when California and Arizona
passed medical marijuana initiatives.

At that time, top administration officials, including Atty. Gen. Janet Reno
and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, condemned the
measures and announced a crackdown against doctors who recommended
marijuana. A court temporarily blocked authorities from going forward with
the crackdown, and a lawsuit is pending.

No major lawsuits are planned this year, at least so far, and no sweeping
enforcement actions are expected against doctors or patients.

That could change if members of Congress begin pressuring the administration
to take action, and it is not yet clear if that will happen.

"It is virtually impossible for me to give you the coordinated, `This is
what the federal government is going to do,' " McDonough said.

The approval of laws in a total of seven states--covering one-fifth of the
nation's population--that directly contradict federal drug laws creates a
novel situation.

Voters in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado, as well as the
District of Columbia, passed referendum proposals Tuesday, joining
California and Arizona. In D.C. and Colorado, exit polls showed voter
approval, but the actual results were withheld, pending legal challenges.

The situation is even murkier because the measures protect certain patients
who buy marijuana, but selling the drug remains illegal.

Under the initiatives, a patient can be certified that he has one of five
diseases--AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis or epilepsy--and that
he or she would benefit from marijuana. If so, the state must issue the
patient a card authorizing possession and use of marijuana.

"If the federal government wants to intervene and block enforcement of these
initiatives, it will have to sue and take legal action against the states,"
said Bill Zimmerman, director of Americans for Medical Rights, which
coordinated several of the initiatives. "It remains to be seen what the
federal government will do."

In three of the jurisdictions that approved medical marijuana measures, they
will not take immediate effect.

Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) inserted a measure in a large federal spending bill
forbidding the District of Columbia from spending any money on its
initiative; his action has been challenged in court.

In Colorado, a dispute over the validity of petition signatures also is in
court.

In Nevada, the state constitution requires voters to pass any amendment
twice, so the marijuana initiative will not be final until 2000.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst