D.C. TO VOTE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

WASHINGTON (AP)--Election officials approved an initiative Thursday to
let voters decide whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes
in the nation's capital.

The District of Columbia Board of Elections had rejected the
initiative a month ago but reconsidered because of a Sept. 3 ruling by
D.C Superior Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle that the board wrongly
dismissed 4,600 signatures that a petitioner collected.

The board threw them out because the petitioner provided an incorrect
address for herself on an affidavit. Huvelle ruled the woman's mistake
was not enough to invalidate the signatures she collected.

AIDS activists hailed the reversal. ``We are certainly pleased that
D.C. voters are going to have a chance to decide for themselves on
this important initiative,'' said James Millner, a spokesman for the
Whitman-Walker Clinic, which treats AIDS patients.

``We don't like pot, but when other medications fail you should not
have to face a jail sentence just because you're trying to keep weight
on,'' said Wayne Turner of the activist group ACT UP.

The White House drug policy office disagreed. ``We are confident that
the voters of the District of Columbia will make the right decision
that science, not politics, should determine what is safe and
effective medicine,'' spokesman Bob Weiner said.

Marijuana should not be used for medical purposes unless the Food and
Drug Administration approves it, Weiner said.

The Republican-led Congress also is critical of medical marijuana
initiatives. On Wednesday, the House passed a resolution condemning
attempts to legalize marijuana for medical use.

The House version of a bill appropriating money for the District of
Columbia was amended to make it illegal to spend money carrying out
the initiative.

If passed, that would prevent officials from printing the ballot and
processing its results, but it is unlikely to be acted on before the
Nov. 3 election. The Senate has yet to pass its appropriations bill
for the district, and it is unclear if the House amendment would make
it into final legislation or be signed into law before the vote.

In 1996, voters in California and Arizona passed initiatives similar
to the district's, but the Arizona Legislature enacted legislation
forbidding sale in the state of drugs not approved as medicine by the
FDA. Advocates contend marijuana helps patients of serious diseases
such as AIDS and cancer contend with pain and nausea.

AP-NY-09-17-98 1905EDT
Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady