Calif. attorney general backs marijuana study

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuter) California's Attorney General, an ardent
opponent of a controversial state law legalizing marijuana use by the sick,
said Tuesday he backed a proposal for a threeyear study of whether the
drug had medicinal properties.

Attorney General Dan Lungren said he supported a bill that will devote
$1 million in state funds to allow researchers at the University of
California to study the medicinal effects of marijuana.

Lungren, a Republican who takes a hard line on law and order issues,
opposed a ballot initiative passed by California voters last November,
known as Proposition 215, which made it legal for sick people to use
marijuana to ease their pain.

Until now, he had also opposed a bill by Democratic state Sen. John
Vasconcellos calling for a study of marijuana's "efficacy and safety as
medical treatment."

Lungren, who is expected to run for governor in 1998, said he dropped
his opposition to the bill after Vasconcellos amended the legislation to
meet his concerns.

"California needs a definitive study. This bill will fill the many
information gaps that have made it difficult for ordinary Californians to
know whether marijuana has any medicinal value," Lungren said. But he said
he still believed that Proposition 215 was "a dumb law."

A spokesman for Lungren said there was no change of heart on Lungren's
part and he still opposed Proposition 215. Among the amendments sought by
Lungren were that the research should be unbiased and should report on any
negative as well as positive effects of marijuana, the spokesman said.

Lungren also urged Californians to condemn recreational use of
marijuana as "stupid behavior which destroys life potential."

As amended, the bill would set up a research program to study the
effects of marijuana. It would also allow outside sources to contribute
funding to the study but would prevent them from having any say on how
research is conducted.

REUTER