FOES SPEAK OUT AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA

With recent polls in four states, including Nevada, indicating that
voters may pass initiatives to make medical use of marijuana legal,
anti-drug forces have launched an 11th-hour defensive.

Dr. Donald Vereen, deputy director of the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy, was in Las Vegas Thursday to speak out against
passage of Question 9. The initiative to legalize medical use of
marijuana will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

"What other medicine do you smoke?" Vereen asked. "What other medicine
do you vote for? Smoke is not medicine. You know that -- so don't get
hoodwinked."

Vereen acknowledged that a chemical component in marijuana, THC, is
helpful in treating such diseases as glaucoma and AIDS, but he said
there are several hundred carcinogens and other dangerous substances in
the plant that can harm people.

Vereen, along with several other representatives from state agencies and
two high school students, met at the Economic Opportunity Board
Treatment Center, 522 W. Washington St., and urged voters to defeat
Question 9. He said people seeking medical relief from diseases should
wait until all the scientific evidence is in and a pill is developed.

The medical use of marijuana would also create legal hurdles for police.
For example, said John Drew, chief of the Nevada Division of
Investigation, if a motorist was stopped under the influence of
marijuana, the person would have to produce a prescription to avoid
being arrested. Then the doctor would probably have to be brought in to
testify.

But Dan Hart, a consultant for Nevadans for Medical Rights, the group
supporting Question 9, said that comparison isn't realistic.

"We are not advocating that anyone operate heavy machinery under the use
of marijuana," Hart said. "It's hard to imagine that someone dying of
AIDS would be out driving a tractor trailer."

Hart also said waiting for a pill would be too expensive. He said a pill
might cost as much as $40 per dosage.

The Associated Press recently cited polls in Nevada, Alaska, Oregon and
Washington as showing that most voters approve of marijuana for medical
purposes. The Nevada initiative would mirror California's Proposition
215, which was approved in 1996.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Nevada Sheriffs' and
Chiefs' Association and the Police and Fire Executives of Southern
Nevada also encouraged voters to reject Question 9.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst