BALLOT PROPOSAL WOULD ALLOW POT FOR MEDICAL USE

A Portland doctor plans to file an initiative petition to legalize
marijuana for pain control

SALEM -- An Oregon doctor, backed by the deep pockets of Americans for
Medical Rights, on Wednesday announced plans for an initiative campaign to
legalize the medical use of marijuana.

Portland internist Rick Bayer said he would file an initiative petition
this week that would allow patients suffering from illnesses such as
cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and glaucoma to use marijuana to try to
relieve their pain.

Bayer said he expects success because "I'd like to think Oregonians are
deeply concerned about dying and suffering patients."

The Oregon Chiefs of Police is among the groups that will put up a fight,
spokesman Darin Campbell said.

"No medical association or the Federal Drug Administration or anyone has
said there is any medical value whatsoever to the use of marijuana,"
Campbell said. "We look at this (initiative) as the first step toward the
total legalization of drugs."

Bayer filed with the state Elections Division to form a political action
committee, Oregonians for Medical Rights, that will be the campaign's
fund-raising arm. He is aiming for the November ballot.

Stormy Ray, an Ontario resident crippled by multiple sclerosis, joined
Bayer at a news conference at the Capitol. They will be the initiative's
chief petitioners.

"Medical marijuana may be the only medicine that can give me a fighting
chance," said Ray, who uses a wheelchair.

Ray would not say whether she uses marijuana, but she said a synthetic
version of the drug, Marinol, significantly eased her pain until her body
built up a tolerance.

Marijuana is effective in controlling the muscle spasms symptomatic of
multiple sclerosis, Bayer said. Marijuana also works well for patients
suffering from breast, lung and prostate cancer, he said.

Takes Cue From California

Bayer said he began drafting the initiative after he was contacted by
Americans for Medical Rights, a Santa Monica, Calif., group behind
Proposition 215, approved by California voters in 1996. Proposition 215
permits the medical use of marijuana. It's the only law of its kind in the
nation.

Americans for Medical Rights has gone national -- during the California
effort, supporters were known as Californians for Medical Rights -- and is
aiding initiative drives in Colorado, Maine and Alaska as well as Oregon.

The organization targeted states where election laws allow people to use
initiatives and where residents might be responsive to such a request.

"Oregon is a natural place to look," said Dave Fratello, communications
director for Americans for Medical Rights. "We guessed inherently there
might be support there."

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are expected to accompany that guess,
primarily from three men: international financier George Soros, Ohio
insurance executive Peter Lewis and University of Phoenix founder John
Sperling.

Soros and Lewis contributed heavily to the California campaign, and
Sperling backed a similar effort in Arizona. Voters approved the Arizona
initiative in 1996, then legislators gutted it in 1997.

The three men have teamed up to support Americans for Medical Rights and
the organization's nationwide efforts, Fratello said.

Fratello said he isn't sure how much money will be channeled into Oregon,
but he expects about $100,000 will go toward a signature-gathering
campaign. As much as $500,000 might go into the general-election campaign,
he said.

To qualify for the ballot, petitioners must gather 73,261 valid signatures
by July 2.

The money won't come without strings. Fratello said Oregon and other states
would have to come up with some level of matching money, probably a 50-50
split.

Opponents Face Being Outspent

If California offers any lessons, opposition could come from established
medical associations and law enforcement organizations. The California
Medical Association opposed Proposition 215, for example.

The Oregon Medical Association hasn't taken a position on the issue but
probably will oppose it, said James Kronenberg, associate executive
director.

Whatever the opposition, it can expect to be outspent by a wide margin. In
California, initiative supporters spent $1.9 million, Fratello said. The
opposition spent $40,000.

Campbell and the police association recently established a political action
committee, Oregonians Against Dangerous Drugs, to raise election cash.

Much of the money will go to support a referendum asking voters whether the
state should recriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
The 1997 Legislature approved a recriminalization bill, but a referendum
financed partly by Soros, Sperling and Lewis, sent the issue to the
November ballot. House Bill 3643 would have raised the penalty for
possession of less than 1 ounce from a violation to a Class C misdemeanor
punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and maximum jail time of 30 days.

Washington measure different

If the medical-use marijuana proposal qualifies for the ballot, Campbell
said the police chiefs' committee would be used to raise money to oppose it.

Campbell said the November 1997 defeat of a similar medical-use initiative
in Washington gives him hope that he can bring down the Oregon proposal.

The Washington proposal differed significantly from the Oregon initiative,
however. In addition to marijuana, it would have legalized the medical use
of heroin, LSD, peyote and other drugs prohibited by federal law.

The Oregon initiative would deal exclusively with marijuana. It would allow
patients, with written permission from their doctors, to obtain registry
cards from the state Health Division. The cards would allow them to possess
as much as an ounce of marijuana and to grow for medical purposes as many
as three mature marijuana plants.

The Oregon initiative would be a tightened version of the California
measure, Fratello said. It also borrows from a measure sponsored in the
1997 Oregon Legislature by Rep. George Eighmey, D-Portland. Eighmey's bill
never received a hearing, but "it got our attention," Fratello said.