FORMER KANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL ENDORSES MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

TOPEKA - An effort under way in Kansas to legalize the medical use of
marijuana was endorsed Friday by former Kansas Attorney General Bob
Stephan.

Stephan recounted his own bouts with cancer. He was diagnosed with the
disease at age 39 and was given only two to four weeks to live.

He outlived that prediction but spent years undergoing chemotherapy
treatments that always left him nauseated. He said doctors prescribed
medications for the nausea but they never worked well.

Stephan was asked if he smoked marijuana during his illnesses, a
question he said he had been asked numerous times but declined to
answer. He answered it Friday.

"To me the question was irrelevant, but I can tell you I did not," he
responded.

Stephan, who has been a longtime proponent of medical marijuana use,
said that people undergoing cancer treatment should not be denied
access to any medical remedy that a doctor thinks will ease the pain
of someone who is suffering.

He was asked to speak on the issue by the Kansas Compassionate Care
Coalition, which held a news conference Friday at the Kansas statehouse.

Stephan, who lives in Lenexa, wouldn't limit use of marijuana to just
those who are terminally ill or people suffering from cancer. He said
it has been used successfully to treat epilepsy, AIDS, multiple
sclerosis, glaucoma and anxiety.

"Let me be very clear," said Stephan, a Republican who was attorney
general for 16 years. "I am in no way advocating drug
legalization."

Laura Green, director of the Compassionate Care Coalition, said the
organization's goal was to spread awareness of the issue and get a
bill introduced in the next session of the Legislature.

"We need to trust our physicians," she said.

Green said many of the coalition's members are terminally ill patients
and their caregivers. Currently, 12 states have passed laws allowing
some form of medical marijuana use. She said more information about
the issue can be found on the coalition's Web site,
www.ksccc.org.

If a bill were introduced in January, it would have a difficult time
getting passed, said Rep. Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican and
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"I just don't think there's any political will for it," he
said.

O'Neal also said he isn't convinced there is a medical basis for
claims made by those who support medical marijuana.