MEDICAL MARIJUANA MOVEMENT FINDS FRIENDS IN 3 MILLIONAIRES

Trio helping finance ballot drives in six states and Washington, D.C.

Phoenix -- A war against the "war on drugs," fueled by millionaires, not
pot-smoking hippies, is taking place in six states and the District of
Columbia this month.

Voters in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District
will find initiatives on their Nov. 3 ballots allowing physicians, under
defined conditions, to obtain and dispense marijuana as a palliative to
their patients.

Here in Arizona, the medical marijuana question is before the voters as
part of a broader referendum on decriminalizing a wide category of drugs.

Sponsors say they think they will win in every state and opponents in the
law enforcement community, Congress and the Clinton administration fear
they might be right.

One reason for the optimism among proponents is the money that has come in
from three men: New York financier George Soros, Cleveland insurance
executive Peter B. Lewis and Phoenix entrepreneur John Sperling, who are
staunch critics of the anti-drug policies of successive Republican and
Democratic administrations.

The three are financing most of the $2 million campaign being run by the
Los Angeles-based Americans for Medical Rights, which is coordinating the
ballot drives everywhere but Arizona. Sperling is the principal backer of
the Arizona referendum, which has raised $1.4 million so far.

Dave Fratello, spokesman for the national organization, said, "The goal is
to change national policy, but we know we will have to win more battles in
1999 and 2000 before that happens."

California voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1996, but
state and federal authorities have made a persistent effort to prevent
people from selling marijuana to individuals who obtain a doctor's
prescription.

Nonetheless, some "cannabis clubs" are operating.

Proponents of the initiatives, such as Portland physician Richard Bayer,
claim there are many cancer and AIDS patients for whom marijuana is the
most effective drug in relieving nausea and other debilitating side
effects.

The Oregon campaign is using a multiple sclerosis patient as a spokeswoman.
A poll this month showed the proposal with a 64% to 30% lead, but sponsors
said they expected it to narrow.

On the other side, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
is distributing talking points to community anti-drug coalitions and urging
newspapers in initiative states to editorialize against these propositions.

Its position papers contend other drugs can meet the medical needs of
cancer and AIDS patients and urge that marijuana not be legalized -- at
least until the Food and Drug Administration and the Institute of Medicine
complete ongoing studies on its safety and
effectiveness.

Local law enforcement agencies have not mobilized major money or strong
grass-roots opposition to the initiatives.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), an opponent of the Arizona decriminalization
effort, said, "When it's everybody's responsibility, it's nobody's
responsibility."

The Arizona battle might be the most significant because of the breadth of
the referendum.

In 1996, Sperling, president of the Apollo Group Inc., which owns, among
other enterprises, the for-profit University of Phoenix, launched the "Drug
Medicalization, Prevention and Control" initiative, with financial backing
from Soros and Lewis.

In addition to permitting marijuana prescriptions, it provided that instead
of jail, the first two possession convictions would result in probation and
participation in a drug treatment or education program.

He enlisted bipartisan support from Marvin S. Cohen, a Carter
administration chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, and John Norton, a
deputy secretary in the Reagan administration Agriculture Department.

His big catch was former Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), who said in a
television commercial, "As a former prosecutor and U.S. senator I've spent
my life fighting against drugs, and I can tell you that the Drug
Medicalization Act will strengthen our drug policy."

The TV spots in the 1996 initiative campaign stressed the provision
requiring those convicted of violent crimes while under the influence of
drugs to serve their full sentences, without parole.

The ads also argued that clearing prisons of people convicted of simple
possession would save money and make space for hardened criminals.

The measure passed with little opposition. It was only afterward, said
state Rep. Mike Gardner, that legislators discovered it had been written to
include not just marijuana but 116 also other "Schedule I" drugs including
LSD, heroin and PCP.

Gardner, chairman of the state House Judiciary Committee, immediately met
with his state Senate counterpart, and they drafted and passed two bills.

One ordered jail time for anyone convicted of possession who refused
treatment and the other suspended medical use of any of the 117 drugs,
including marijuana, until it is approved by Congress or the FDA.

No sooner were the bills signed than Sperling and his team, now calling
themselves "The People Have Spoken" coalition, rounded up signatures to
force Gardner's bills to referendum.

The conflict quickly escalated. Sperling's side filed a second initiative
for the Nov. 3 ballot that would bar the legislature from making anything
other than technical changes in voter-approved measures and require a
three-fourths majority even for those.

The legislature replied with a countermeasure that would sunset initiatives
after five years and permit substantive amendments on a two-thirds vote.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson