MARIJUANA INITIIATIVES GROW LIKE WEEDS

[SIDEBAR]

MARIJUANA AND THE BALLOT

In the months ahead, Oregon voters might be asked to sign as many as five
initiative petitions involving marijuana, and they already face one
referendum on the subject in the Nov. 3 election.

REFERENDUM

This measure was approved by the 1997 Legislature but hasn't gone into
effect because it was sent to the ballot through the referendum process:

*RECRIMINALIZATION: Asks voters whether they want to make possession of
less than an ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor, with a maximum
sentence of 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and allow a six-month
suspension of driving privileges of first-time offenders who don't complete
diversion. Chief petitioners: Michael E. Rose and Todd D. Olson, Portland.

INITIATIVES

Constitutional amendments need 97,681 approved signatures to qualify for
the ballot; statutory proposals need 73,261. The secretary of state has
approved these petitions for circulation:

*STATE-CONTROLLED SALES: Would permit the sale of marijuana to adults
through state liquor stores and replace marijuana laws except DUII. Would
have the OLCC license marijuana cultivation by qualified people, buy the
crop, and sell it at cost to pharmacies and medical researchers and for
profit to qualified adults. Statutory. Chief petitioners: Paul Loney and
Douglas P. Stanford, Portland (campaign will pay people to gather
signatures).

*ADULT POSSESSION: Would allow the state to regulate but not prohibit adult
possession and cultivation of controlled substances. Would require repeal
of criminal laws inconsistent with the measure. Would release some inmates
or parolees for conduct made legal by the measure. Constitutional
amendment. Chief petitioners: Floyd F. Landrath, Portland; Arthur H.
Livermore Sr., Arch Cape (will not pay people to gather signatures).

*PRIVATE USE: Would permit people 21 and older to manufacture, possess and
consume cannabis, including marijuana, in private. Would not affect laws
prohibiting delivery of marijuana. Constitutional amendment. Chief
petitioner: Carla B. Newbree, Eugene (will not pay people to gather
signatures).

PROPOSALS

These proposals have not been approved:

PRESCRIPTIONS: Would make it legal for medical practitioners to prescribe
or provide any herbs, seed-bearing plants and marijuana. Constitutional
amendment. Chief petitioner: Stephen M. Sedlacko, Eugene (will not pay
petitioners).

*MEDICAL USE: Would allow limited exceptions to laws that prohibit engaging
or assisting in medical use of marijuana. Would require that use be
necessary to mitigate symptoms or effects of debilitating medical
conditions. Statutory. Chief petitioner: Richard Bayer, Portland (will pay
people to gather signatures)

- -- [MAIN STORY] -

This initiative season, Oregonians might decide to inhale.

They certainly will have the opportunity. Petitioners will be pushing as
many as five marijuana-related initiatives in the coming months. Three are
in circulation. Two more are on the way.

Not in recent history - if ever - has Oregon seen such a potluck of
marijuana measures. And not since 1986 has a marijuana initiative qualified
for the ballot.

"There are a lot of people in the nation who think Oregon is a hot spot as
far as legalization is concerned," said Darin Campbell, a spokesman for the
Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, which opposes loosening of drug laws.

The association has set up a campaign committee, Oregonians Against
Dangerous Drugs, to battle the initiatives.

Sponsors of the initiatives are optimistic about qualifying their proposals
for the Nov. 3 ballot. Signatures must be submitted to the secretary of
state by July 2.

Why the effervescence? Sponsors say people have become less patient with
ineffective drug laws and more understanding of marijuana's possible
benefits.

"I think the public is becoming more aware," said Floyd Landrath, a
Portland resident who is the director of the American Anti-Prohibition
League. "They're paying more attention to drug-related issues."

Landrath is the chief petitioner of what might be the most sweeping of the
initiatives. His proposal would amend the state constitution to allow
adults to possess and cultivate controlled substances. The measure would
apply to drugs such as heroin and cocaine, not just marijuana.

"We want to reform all drug laws," Landrath said. "We don't believe
prohibition works. The marijuana movement is only a half-step."

Two years ago, Landrath worked on an initiative that dealt exclusively with
marijuana. The proposal, sponsored by Portland political activist D. Paul
Stanford, would have allowed the sale of marijuana through state liquor
stores.

Stanford has been trying since the mid-1980s to put a marijuana initiative
on the ballot. He was the petition coordinator of the 1986 measure that
would have allowed adults to grow and possess marijuana for personal use.
It was overwhelmingly defeated.

Since 1992, Stanford has been pushing the liquor-store version, a
statutory, not constitutional change. He claims he has gathered 20,000 of
the 73,261 signatures needed.

Stanford said that as more people try marijuana, more understand the need
for reform. "They realize that to keep it illegal just isn't logical," he
said.

Initiatives aren't Stanford's only political venue. A Democrat, he is
running for the Oregon House seat being vacated by Rep. George Eighmey,
D-Portland.

Stanford plans to pay people to gather signatures, an increasingly common
enterprise.

Landrath said he will rely on volunteers. "We're going to plug away as best
we can," he said. "We don't have a lot of financial resources to drop."

Neither does Stephen Sedlacko, a driving force behind two other
marijuana-related initiatives. He is the sponsor of one that would make it
legal for doctors to prescribe marijuana and other seed-bearing plants, and
he is the petition coordinator for one that would allow the private use of
marijuana.

"For us, it's a question of individual choice," said Sedlacko, who lives in
Eugene.

Perhaps the initiative most likely to reach the ballot is one not in
circulation. Filed March 3 by Portland doctor Rick Bayer, it would allow
patients with certain illnesses, such as glaucoma, cancer and AIDS, to use
marijuana with a doctor's approval.

Bayer is allied with Americans for Medical Rights, the Santa Monica,
Calif., group that backed the medical marijuana initiative approved by
California voters in 1996. The group, which counts international financier
George Soros among its benefactors, has promised the Oregon campaign money
and expertise, Bayer said.

"I'm really not for the legalization of marijuana," Bayer said. "I'm for
prescriptive access to marijuana."

Bayer said he doesn't approve of the more expansive initiatives, such as
the one that would allow sales in liquor stores. "I really don't want to
see marijuana to become the next Budweiser."

Campbell said a survey by the police chiefs association found that among
drug-related proposals filed, the medical marijuana initiative is most
likely to make the ballot.

"We'll do everything we can to kill it" if it qualifies for the ballot, he said.

Oregonians Against Dangerous Drugs will raise money to promote a referendum
to increase penalties for possession of marijuana. The 1997 Legislature
passed the so-called "recriminalization" bill, but opponents gathered
enough signatures to put it on the ballot.

Campbell wants the referendum to pass but wants even more to stamp out the
marijuana initiatives. If one passes, "it sets back on our agenda for
tougher drug laws," he said.