STEPHAN JOINS PUSH FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Former Kansas A.G. Says Treatment of Drug 'Absurd'

Topeka -- The push to legalize medical marijuana got a big lift
Friday when former Attorney General Bob Stephan announced his support
and urged Kansans to get behind the effort.

"The state should not pre-empt the role of the physicians when it
comes to deciding what is best for ill Kansans," said Stephan, a
cancer survivor and the longest serving attorney general in state history.

But lawmakers said there was little chance of legalizing medical
marijuana, at least in the 2008 legislative session that starts in January.

The Kansas Medical Society has taken no stand on the issue, but the
Kansas State Nurses Association plans to consider a resolution in
October for the legal use of therapeutic marijuana.

"On behalf of registered nurses statewide, we believe that this is a
relevant and timely health care issue that warrants discussion," KSNA
President Ellen Carson said.

At a news conference with the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition,
Stephan recounted his own fight with cancer, and thousands of visits
with other cancer victims.

Stopping to gather his emotions, Stephan said marijuana should be
available to people who are suffering pain that cannot be alleviated
by other treatments.

"When it comes to marijuana, it is treated like some voodoo medicine
that should not be recommended by physicians. I find this to be
absurd," Stephan said.

Stephan served as attorney general from 1979 until 1995. In response
to questions, he said he never used marijuana.

The Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition, which has 400 members in
chapters in Wichita and Lawrence, seeks to have Kansas join 12 other
states in passing legislation that allows physicians to recommend the
use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Stephan and the coalition said marijuana can relieve pain and nausea
for patients with cancer and other conditions, such as AIDS, glaucoma
and anxiety disorders.

But Jerry Slaughter, executive director of the Kansas Medical
Society, said his concern would be the legal protection of physicians
because marijuana is an illegal drug under both state and federal law.

Slaughter said there are probably doctors on both sides of the issue.

"There is a growing debate about pain management," he said.

State Rep. Jim Morrison, R-Colby, said he would oppose the proposal.

Morrison said if marijuana were legalized for medical reasons, then
other drugs, such as LSD, would have to be legalized for medical purposes.

He also said it would be difficult to control the cultivation and
distribution of marijuana, and that he believed physicians have
adequate medicines to treat pain.

State Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, said he opposed it too, but was
willing to consider it.

Journey said he doubted such a proposal would be approved by the
Legislature, but that Stephan's backing gave the issue more traction.