MARIJUANA INITIATIVES BLOOMING ALL OVER THE WEST

SEATTLE -- When Washington voters decide in November whether to legalize
the use of marijuana for relief of cancer and other debilitating illnesses,
they won't be alone.

Voters in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada and, potentially, Colorado
will cast ballots on nearly identical measures.

That's no accident: Nearly all the money and much of the political
horsepower behind Initiative 692 and similar proposals elsewhere is being
provided by the California-based Americans for Medical Rights.

That group is principally supported by three wealthy businessmen:
billionaire global financier George Soros; John Sperling, founder of the
for-profit University of Phoenix, and Peter Lewis, chief executive officer
of Ohio-based Progressive Insurance.

The group is focused on the West because 20 of the 24 states that allow
voters to write laws by initiative are west of the Mississippi.

Americans for Medical Rights conducted polls in 10 states, concentrating
its political efforts this year on those that looked the most promising.
They also are relatively small states, where it is less expensive to
conduct a campaign.

None of the proposals would allow the controversial ``buying clubs''
established in California where the sick can buy marijuana.

They have donated nearly all the $300,000 raised so far by the Initiative
692 campaign.

They were also the financial backers for last year's unsuccessful
medical-marijuana initiative campaign, which lost handily despite spending
$1.5 million.

But Initiative 692 isn't a rerun of last year's measure, which would have
legalized an array of drugs and potentially reduced the jail sentence of
convicted drug users.

The current version is focused much more narrowly on marijuana use. It
would allow people with certain diseases to grow and use marijuana with a
doctor's recommendation. The measure would cover those suffering from
certain AIDS symptoms, nausea caused by chemotherapy, muscle spasms caused
by multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma or other illnesses causing
``intractable'' pain.

``We are not trying to legalize drugs,'' said Initiative 692 organizer Rob
Killian. ``It is just (about) marijuana and just for sick people.''

Killian, a Seattle-area doctor, also was the leader of last year's
campaign. He said he has seen the benefits of marijuana on his own terminal
patients and AIDS sufferers.

The most prominent opponents are King County, Wash., Prosecutor Norm Maleng
and Washington Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who both worked against last year's
measure.

Maleng said relieving the suffering of seriously ill patients should be
addressed through the stringent clinical tests required by the federal
government, not by an ``end run'' around the drug laws.

Owen said he was concerned that medical marijuana was a stalking-horse for
decriminalization of other drugs. He said the agenda of the three main
donors goes far beyond prescribing marijuana for cancer patients.

``The first step to legalizing drugs is to accept medical marijuana,'' Owen
argues. ``Soros has spoken out for changing national drug policy. That is
the real purpose.''

Soros has criticized the severity of U.S. drug-use laws, donating millions
to study and promote reforms.

But Americans for Medical Rights is solely interested in the issue of
legalizing marijuana for medical use, said spokesman Dave Fratello.

The group, which passed the California initiative in 1996, provides
financial, technical and legal assistance to the local campaigns. Should
this year's initiatives prove successful, the group likely will sponsor
ballot measures in Ohio, Illinois and Florida in the next two years,
46ratello said.

There are minor differences among the current crop of proposals.

46or example, Washington's initiative calls for medical patients to be
allowed to keep a 60-day supply of marijuana. Colorado would allow patients
to possess 2 ounces of harvested marijuana and six total plants, of which
three are flowering. Oregon would allow seven plants, including three that
were flowering.

The Alaska, Oregon and Colorado initiatives would create a permit system,
which would provide identification cards for patients eligible to use
marijuana. Washington calls only for documentation from a doctor, similar
to a prescription.

Initiative 692 would allow a caregiver to have access to marijuana or help
the patient with its cultivation. No caregiver could help more than one
patient or legally use the drug themselves.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan