POT PROPOSITIONS ON STATE BALLOTS

Getting high used to be the only reason to smoke marijuana. But for years,
people also have been going to pot for medical reasons, and there are
efforts at the state level to make the practice legal.

That's already the case in one state--California, of course, where voters
approved a so-called medical marijuana proposal in 1996. Similar measures
are on the November ballot in Arizona, Nevada and Washington state. A
proposal in Colorado was shot down for lack of petition signatures, but
advocates say they likely will sue to get it back on the fall ballot.

Marijuana long has been used for a variety of medicinal purposes. In an
episode of ``Chicago Hope'' last season, a doctor sneaked some joints to a
patient with the blessing of most of his colleagues. But cannabis is far
from being accepted by the medical establishment.

AMA group's view

The American Medical Association's Council on Scientific Affairs observes,
``The concept of burning and inhaling the combustion products of a dried
plant product containing dozens of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals as a
therapeutic agent represents a significant departure from the standard drug
approval process.''

Other opponents argue there is no scientific evidence that smoking
marijuana is of any greater benefit to patients with AIDS, multiple
sclerosis, glaucoma or cancer than what is now done to treat them, relieve
their suffering or lessen side effects of their treatment.

While cannabis curbs the nausea of some chemotherapy patients, opponents
say, leading cancer institutions don't recommend it because of its limited
effectiveness, unpredictability and the irritating effects of the many
noxious chemical compounds it contains. Besides, marijuana can cause
dependency--some say addiction--and memory impairment.

And San Francisco pot activist Dennis Peron probably does his cause more
harm than good by declaring that ``all use is medical.''

What it's good for

But less-extreme advocates point to marijuana's ability to relieve pain
when nothing else seems to work, curb internal eye pressure for glaucoma
patients and whet the appetites of people with AIDS.

New research suggests that pot may reduce stroke damage and protect against
Alzheimer's disease. Indications are it could be used someday to help
people withdraw from hard drugs and to treat epileptic seizures, asthma and
movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

THC, the chemical in marijuana that gets smokers high, is one of 60
cannabinoids that can affect receptors in the brain. In addition, the
plant's essential oils have anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and
anti-inflammatory properties. And marijuana seems to be remarkably safe: A
deadly dose is 40,000 times the amount of a therapeutic one. By comparison,
the figure for aspirin is 25, and for morphine, 50.

The Calif.ornia experience

Many Californians were sold on marijuana as medicine even before the latest
research came to light. The legislature passed bills with bipartisan
backing in 1994 and 1995, but Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed both. Voters OKd
Proposition 215 the following year after a campaign whose financial backers
included Laurance D. Rockefeller, former Secretary of State George Shultz,
the University of Chicago's Milton Friedman, Chicago commodities broker
Richard Dennis, Gail Zappa (singer Frank's widow) and former Sen. Alan
Cranston.

Also in 1996, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which legalized not
only pot but also permitted doctors to prescribe heroin, LSD and
methamphetamine--provided they obtain a second physician's opinion and show
``documented scientific evidence'' of potential benefit. In practice, that
probably means only marijuana, though sponsors said they worded the
provision broadly to prevent the federal government from interfering.

Though Prop 200 passed by a 2-to-1 ratio, Arizona's legislature blocked it
by making it illegal to prescribe marijuana and other drugs until Congress
or the Food and Drug Administration or the Drug Enforcement Administration
signed off on the substances to fight illness.

New Arizona measure

In November, Prop 300 will be accompanied by an initiative to bar the
legislature from undercutting the will of the voters. This would put
Arizona on par with California, whose constitution prohibits the
legislature from tampering with ballot measures approved by voters.

The proposal voted on in Washington state last year also would have led to
the legalization of heroin, but voters defeated it in 38 of 39 counties.
The new measure is restricted to marijuana. It also drops a provision that
would make hundreds of people imprisoned for drug possession eligible for
release, plus send those arrested for possession to treatment instead of
jail.

Americans for Medical Rights, the same group that launched the California
vote, also is behind the initiative on November's ballot in Nevada. It
would allow adults, on the advice of physicians, to use marijuana for pain
in a number of illnesses, such as cancer and AIDS. It would need voter
approval again in 2000.

Off the ballot

In Colorado, medical marijuana was knocked off the ballot for lack of valid
signatures. Coloradans for Medical Rights has until Sept. 7 to challenge
the ruling and says it probably will.

A 20-year-old Illinois law allows ``authorized doctors'' to prescribe
marijuana for glaucoma and cancer patients ``or such other procedures
certified to be medically necessary.'' But few apparently do, and the law
is little known.

Former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson emphasized that the measure was not
a first step toward the legalization of pot when he signed it into law in
1978.