NOT JUST FOR HIPPIES ANYMORE

The marijuana legalization movement in Oregon, for years dominated by
politically unsophisticated pot proponents, is looking more respectable.
This week, Oregonians for Medical Rights will file a proposed initiative to
legalize the growing and using of marijuana for "debilitating medical
conditions" including multiple sclerosis, seizures and nausea associated
with chemotherapy. The group plans to finance its signature-gathering
campaign with help from billionaire businessman George Soros, who has
already funded a successful medical-marijuana initiative in California.

Chief petitioner Rick Bayer, who for 15 years practiced internal medicine
in Lake Oswego, says his interest in medical marijuana began 20 years ago.
As an internist at the VA Medical Center, Bayer recalls smelling marijuana
smoke coming from a lymphoma patient's room. After talking to Vietnam vets
and researching the topic, Bayer concluded pot can be good medicine.

The campaign will be run by the Sugerman Group, the Silverton-based
consulting firm that ran last year's Death with Dignity campaign. "It fits
in with how I think we're all so stupid in dealing with dying people," says
Geoff Sugerman.

This will be the second infusion of Soros cash into Oregon in the last 12
months. Last fall, he and two other out-of-state businessmen dropped
$100,000 on a signature-gathering push to reverse the 1997 Legislature's
decision to recriminalize less than one ounce of marijuana. That referendum
has qualified for the November ballot.