MAKING PUSH FOR LEGALIZED POT

Talk-Show Host And Elected State Officials Deliver A Proposal To Allow
Patients Access To Medical Marijuana

ALBANY - Television talk-show host and multiple-sclerosis patient Montel
Williams lobbied yesterday for the legalization of marijuana for medical
purposes, joining state lawmakers who say the intoxicant is a credible pain
killer.

"New York needs to act now to make marijuana legally available for medical
use," said Williams, a Manhattan resident who said he has been buying the
drug legally through a state-sanctioned provider in California. "Every day
that we delay is another day of needless suffering for patients like me
across the state."

State Sen. Vincent L. Leibell (R-Patterson) and Assemb. Richard N.
Gottfried (D-Manhattan) flanked the star, along with elected and health
officials who outlined a proposal that would allow patients with
life-threatening conditions to be prescribed the drug by certified
practitioners.

Their backing was reinforced by the support of Senate Majority Leader
Joseph L. Bruno, who issued a statement late in the day saying he had met
with Williams and medical experts and was convinced that a bill permitting
medical marijuana use "in tightly controlled instances" must be passed
before the legislative session ends next month.

Under the proposal, now being debated in health committees in the Senate
and Assembly, a practitioner must determine that no other medication would
be as effective for a patient as marijuana. Licensed nonprofit
organizations would grow the drug under stringent oversight to guard
against illicit sale. Additionally, a patient's possession of the drug
would be limited to 2.25 ounces and it could not be used in a public place.

Despite the safeguards, opponents of the proposal yesterday characterized
Williams as a renegade, and said the proposal was designed to lead to more
expansive legalization of the drug.

"Here we have a person who is breaking the law trying to set policy," Mike
Long, chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State, said of
Williams. He said many medical marijuana advocates are "looking to
liberalize the use of marijuana."

Twelve other states now allow the medicinal use of marijuana, and the U.S.
Supreme Court is expected to rule shortly on whether those laws are subject
to a federal ban. Bruno's support for the proposal and what Gottfried
called strong support in the Assembly means a bill could end up on the
governor's desk.

Williams said yesterday that he met with Gov. George Pataki a month ago and
the governor promised to re-examine what had been opposition to medical
marijuana. Yesterday, the governor deferred his opinion to the New York
State Department of Health, which advises the executive on the matter.

"We remain skeptical of the use of medical marijuana, but we continue to
monitor the issue," said health department spokesman Bill Van Slyke.