ANTI-DRUG GROUP FIGHTS MEDICAL-MARIJUANA BILL

The founder of a New York based anti-drug group came to the Capitol
on Friday to persuade legislators to vote against a bill that would
make marijuana legal for patients suffering from some serious medical
conditions.

Steven Steiner of Dads and Moms Against Drug Dealers said that
passage of SB258 -- which is scheduled to be considered today by the
House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee -- would lead to more
drug abuse in the state.

Ironically, Steiner's group is partly funded by the company that
makes the drug that killed his teenage son.

"Five years ago, I lost my 19-year-old son," Steiner told a reporter.

The drug that killed Steven Steiner Jr. was OxyContin, a prescription
narcotic that is legal. "But marijuana played a major part in his
death," Steiner said. "There's no doubt in my mind that marijuana is
a gateway drug."

He repeated a common claim by medical-marijuana opponents that
drug-liberalization advocates are using cancer and AIDS sufferers to
pass medical laws, which, opponents say, is a first step to
legalization of marijuana.

Backers of SB258, including Gov. Bill Richardson and senators from
both political parties, have argued the bill provides sufficient
safeguards to prevent widespread abuse and would help only people who
are in serious pain.

According to DAMADD's Web site, Perdue Pharma, the manufacturer of
OxyContin, is a sponsor of the organization.

Several other large pharmaceutical companies, including Jannsen,
Bristol-Meyers, Roche, Alpharma, UCB, Endo, Cephalon, Teva and
Boehringer Ingelheim, also support DAMADD. "Big (pharmaceuticals),
they see what's happening," Steiner said. "They gave us funding unrestricted."

Steiner said his son wasn't using OxyContin correctly. "My son
crushed it up and snorted it," he said.

The pharmaceutical industry never has been visibly active in opposing
medical-marijuana legislation in New Mexico.

But the industry -- which contributed more than $97,000 to New Mexico
political campaigns in 2002 and more than $56,000 in 2004 -- stands
to lose money if marijuana became a free and legal treatment.

Prescription drugs to combat nausea and other symptoms, as some
supporters say marijuana can do, may cost hundreds or even thousands
of dollars a month.

Steiner appeared at a news conference with Rep Bill Rehm,
R-Albuquerque. Rehm, a former narcotics detective with the Bernalillo
County Sheriff's Department, said he believes the medical-marijuana
bill would result in more marijuana users driving vehicles.

"There's no requirement in the bill about having (marijuana-growing
facilities) in close proximity to daycare centers or schools," he
said. "There's nothing in the bill about smoking marijuana and
driving a school bus or teaching school."