I685: mercy measure or smoke screen?

Backers say pot helps the sick; foes see dangerous prodrug slant

By Dale Steinke Herald Writer

A drug initiative being offered to voters as a way to ease the suffering
of seriously ill patients would also release drug addicts from prison and
water down current drug possession laws.

Dr. Rob Killian, a Tacoma family physician and sponsor of Initiative 685,
is also a former hospice director who invokes images of dying hospice
patients to promote his cause.

"This is a political statement that says, basically, if any drug has
medical benefit it would be safely available for patients to use," Killian
said of I685. "When you know there are some options available but you
can't use them, it's very frustrating."

Opponents of I685 say Killian's campaign is using voter sympathy for
people in pain as a smoke screen for an effort to decriminalize drugs.

The initiative would allow doctors to recommend for medical use what are
now illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin and LSD. It also would
permit the release of an estimated 300 inmates serving for possession of
the same drugs.

Although it would deny early release for people convicted of a violent
crime while using drugs, I685 could mean fewer people going to prison for
drug possession, because first and secondtime offenders would get
treatment, rather than jail time.

Getting a a drug possession conviction in the first place, could be
complicated, because prosecutors might have difficulty determining if
someone had physician approval for drugs, said Jim Townsend, Snohomish
County's chief criminal deputy prosecutor.

It might even be possible for people to get physician permission after
they've been arrested, he added.

"It's going to make enforcement very difficult," Townsend said. "The real
argument would be whether we should legalize drugs or not. It's a subterfuge."

Many businesses, including Boeing, express worry about the effect the
initiative's passage could have on their attempts to maintain drugfree
workplaces.

"We also have significant concerns with the way the bill is written. We
believe it has too many loopholes," Boeing spokeswoman Sherry Nebel said.
"Obviously, there's a safety concern not only with the manufacture of our
products, but also in the workplace with the safety of our employees."

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who's made a career out of crusading against drugs,
says the physician and the three out ofstate businessmen financing the
initiative are corrupting children by trying to change the perception of
marijuana's risk.

Initiative 685 is based on an Arizona referendum approved nearly 2to1 by
voters in 1996, only to get blocked by legislators.

The measure would legalize possession of drugs by people who are seriously
ill, if they get written recommendations from two physicians. The doctors
also would have to be able to cite scientific research supporting use of
the drug.

Patients would still have to buy the drugs off the street, because
cultivation, sale or transport of the weed would remain illegal.

The initiative also doesn't define "seriously ill," or what "professional
medical standards" doctors must adhere to when recommending such controlled
substances.

Owen says recommending that a patient get access to illegal drugs borders
on malpractice.

"Once the doctor makes the recommendation, the patient has to buy it on the
street," he says.

Killian is a University of Utah medical school graduate who runs an
innercity health clinic in Tacoma. The divorced father of two sons said he
smoked marijuana twice out of curiosity when he was younger.

He acknowledged the legal and moral conflicts but said many doctors already
quietly suggest that patients seek illegal drugs. Killian refers his
patients to Green Cross, a Bellinghambased group that provides marijuana
to people with AIDS, cancer and other diseases.

As for conflicts with other laws, such as those barring the sale of drugs,
Killian said passage would put more pressure on the federal government to
approve medical testing of marijuana and distribution.

Despite Killian's efforts to attract grassroots support, the initiative's
$1 million campaign has been financed mostly by three men: New Yorkbased
international financier George Soros, Arizona businessman John Sperling and
Cleveland insurance executive Peter B. Lewis.

They say the government is wasting billions of dollars in a vain attempt to
stop drugs from coming into the country, and urge a medical rather than law
enforcement approach to drug use.

On the other side, magazine publisher and former presidential candidate
Steve Forbes financed radio ads in August that blasted "powerful, radical
special interests" for attempting to legalize dangerous drugs.

The initiative has prompted a debate fueled by rhetoric and contradictory
medical evidence.

Some studies indicate marijuana is useful for such things as treating
nausea after chemotherapy and restoring appetite in AIDS patients, while
others suggest that smoking the weed may prime the brain for addition to
cocaine and heroin.

Most recently, a panel of experts led by a Georgetown University medical
professor recommended that the National Institutes of Health finance
studies of marijuana's medical value, and keep societal debate out of it.

*Herald writer Mike Benbow and the Associated Press contributed to this
story*

Companion Associated Press Article

Saturday, October 18, 1997

Initiative 685 details

Here are details of Initiative 685, dealing with illegal drugs:

What the ballot measure will say: "Shall penalties for drug possession and
drugrelated violent crime be revised, medical use of Schedule I controlled
substances be permitted, and a drug prevention commission established?"

How it would work: People deemed seriously or terminally ill would be
permitted to possess marijuana, heroin, LSD and other Schedule 1 drugs,
those in the federal government's most restrictive category, if they obtain
written recommendations from two physicians. Physicians would be required
to exercise professional judgment and document that scientific research
supports use of the drug in question.

Anyone currently serving time for drug possession would be eligible for
immediate release. Anyone convicted of drug possession in the future would
be eligible for probation, instead of prison, and judges would have the
option of requiring treatment.

Anyone convicted of a violent crime committed while under the influence of
illegal drugs would be required to serve a full prison term with no early
parole.

The governor would appoint a commission on drug education and prevention,
backed by $6 million from the state general fund.

Associated Press