MEASURE 33: NO: MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM CHANGES GO TOO FAR

With more than 10,000 registered cardholders - 1,300 in Lane County -
Oregon's 6-year-old medical marijuana program is one of the most popular in
the nation. The ballot measure establishing the program sailed to victory
in 1998 with a margin of more than 100,000 votes.

Proponents of Ballot Measure 33, called the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act 2,
are hoping that the popularity and success of the original initiative will
ensure a similar outcome on Nov. 2. But while Measure 33 purports to
address deficiencies in the medical marijuana program, it overreaches in
ways that could threaten rather than enhance Oregonians' access to medical
marijuana.

More than 1,400 physicians have signed applications for medical marijuana
cards under Oregon's program. Despite the high-profile sanctions leveled
against one physician who signed applications for nearly 2,000 patients -
Dr. Phillip Leveque, a 77-year-old osteopath from Molalla - no significant
law-enforcement problems have materialized.

Unlike California, one of nine states with similar medical marijuana
programs, Oregon has not seen a single medical marijuana patient or doctor
prosecuted by the federal government. That's no small achievement, given
the antipathy Attorney General John Ashcroft's Justice Department feels
toward all medical marijuana programs.

While it legalizes possession and use for qualified patients, one big
reason Oregon's program doesn't attract more negative law enforcement
attention is because it prohibits buying or selling marijuana.

But federal authorities' benign neglect almost certainly would end with the
passage of Measure 33. White House drug czar John Walters called the
proposal a stealth effort to legalize marijuana, and said it would turn
Oregon into a "safe haven for drug trafficking." Added to the strong
opposition from the Oregon District Attorneys Association and the Oregon
Medical Association, the unwelcome federal interest in Measure 33 doesn't
bode well for Oregon's patients.

As successful as Oregon's program has been so far, it has one glaring
problem: The law provides no legal mechanism for distribution of medical
marijuana. Qualified patients are allowed to grow their own marijuana. If a
patient is too sick to handle cultivation, a personal caregiver is allowed
to manage that task.

Unfortunately, growing marijuana can be difficult and expensive. Some
patients lack the space or horticultural skills to cultivate a consistent
supply. As a result, patient advocates claim that many qualified patients
don't have access to a steady supply of marijuana. When home-grown pot
isn't available, the only alternative is the criminal market.

Measure 33 ended up in Walters' crosshairs because it proposes dramatic
changes in Oregon's medical marijuana program. The measure would establish
a system of state-regulated marijuana dispensaries authorized to sell up to
6 pounds of marijuana per year to qualified patients, although they could
possess only 1 pound at any given time. The current possession limit is 3
ounces, an amount that Measure 33 proponents say is too small.

The measure also requires the dispensaries to offer free marijuana to
indigent patients, lowers program enrollment fees to $20 from the current
$150 and adds nurse practitioners and naturopaths to the list of health
care providers who could approve marijuana cards.

Some of the most telling opposition to Measure 33 has come from Stormy Ray,
the 48-year-old multiple sclerosis patient who campaigned so effectively
for the 1998 measure. Ray believes Measure 33's for-pay dispensaries would
destroy a cooperative, cash-free, patient-based system. In its place would
be a program that would allow anyone 18 or older to grow, own and sell
marijuana.

Measure 33's supporters have identified areas where Oregon's law could be
made even better, but the measure goes too far. The huge increases in the
amount of marijuana a patient could possess, coupled with a new cash-based
distribution scheme, are certain to attract relentless federal
intervention. It's the last thing Oregon's medical marijuana patients need.