67,000 SIGN ON TO 'POT' INITIATIVE

Advocates for legalizing marijuana for medicinal use said Friday they have
submitted just over the minimum number of signatures needed to put the
issue to a vote of Arkansans.

Chloe Crater, a spokesman for the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana,
said the group turned in about 67,000 signatures and will continue seeking
more over the next few weeks to replace any that may be declared invalid.

Secretary of State Charlie Daniels must certify that the petitions contain
the signatures of 64,456 registered voters for the marijuana initiative to
qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot.

Reed Martin of Conway, who has lung cancer that is in remission, said he
sipped marijuana brewed in a tea while he underwent chemotherapy and
radiation in 2001 and it helped soothe his pain.

"Cancer is already exhausting, painful and frightening. I should not have
to risk being hauled away from my family for simply trying to endure it,"
Martin said during a news conference at the state Capitol, which included
about 20 supporters of the proposal.

The initiated act proposed by the alliance would allow Arkansans with
"debilitating medical conditions" to use marijuana, which they or a
caregiver grow, on the advice of a physician.

Crater and medical patients characterized the issue as a question of
compassion, while opponents say it would open the door to the legalization
of marijuana.

Opponents of the medical marijuana proposal say that it would muddy the
state's drug laws and render difficult the enforcement of criminal
marijuana use in Arkansas.

Larry Page, with a newly established state organization called the
Coalition Against Legalized Marijuana, said he thinks there are "true
believers" who want to help patients who are in pain. But he said the
medicinal benefits of smoking marijuana have not been proven.

"Despite their heartfelt and intense feelings, the medical marijuana is
poor public policy and terrible medical policy," Page said. "Smoking crude
marijuana is not necessary; it's unsafe, it's unproven."

The marijuana initiative is one of two signature drives completed this
week. Organizers of the first, a proposed amendment to constitutionally ban
same-sex unions, turned in their petitions Thursday.

The Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee reported collecting 200,693
signatures, with a minimum of 80,570 needed to qualify for the ballot.
Constitutional amendments require more signatures than initiated acts.

John Riggs of Little Rock, a former Democratic state senator who tried and
failed to pass similar medical marijuana proposals in the Legislature, said
at the news conference that the issue isn't complicated, but common sense.

"Why would we want to continue wasting our state's precious resources
prosecuting sick people who are only trying to get relief from debilitating
illnesses?" he said.

The proposed law defines debilitating medical conditions as cancer,
HIV-positive status or any condition that in a specific patient produces
weakness and emaciation, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, muscle
spasms or "any other serious or chronic physical or mental condition for
which the recommending physician reasonably believes that marijuana has
demonstrated utility."

Medical use of marijuana would include the "manufacture, possession,
delivery or administration" of marijuana for the exclusive benefit of
mitigating the effects of a medical condition.

The proposed law would require the Arkansas Department of Health to issue a
registry card to anyone who has valid identification, pays an "affordable"
fee and has written documentation of a debilitating medical condition with
symptoms that might be mitigated by marijuana use.

A person wouldn't be subject to criminal prosecution of marijuana
possession, delivery or manufacture if he has a registry card or is the
"primary caregiver" of a cardholder or applicant.

Someone under 18 could receive an identification card if they meet those
requirements and a parent or guardian consents.

Nine states have passed laws that protect patients who use marijuana as
medication from arrest and imprisonment by state law enforcement. They are
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and
Washington.

In Maryland, patients aren't protected from arrest but they're prevented
from serving jail time for using marijuana for medical purposes.

As in Arkansas, voters in Montana have an ongoing petition drive to get a
medical marijuana law on the ballot.

The Arkansas proposal wouldn't protect patients from federal arrest or
prosecution.

Federal drug agents have raided homes of patients and marijuana growers in
states that have similar laws on the books. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed
this week to consider whether the federal government has the authority to
prosecute those who use marijuana medicinally in states where it's legal.

Patients who use marijuana say it eases nausea and increases appetite.

Debbie Carter of Little Rock, a single mother who has a brain tumor,
wouldn't say whether she uses the illegal drug, but she said it should be
legal for medicinal use.

She said she's lost 8 pounds while being on chemotherapy for the past 12
weeks. She said she has trouble keeping food down even while taking
powerful antinausea drugs.

She said she'd urge voters to approve the measure if it's on the ballot.

"It is cruel to force us to choose between going without a medicine that
could allow us to eat and risking arrest by trying the medicine anyway,"
she said. "People looking to alleviate their pain should not be criminals."

Crater said the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana will continue
trying to gather signatures over the next couple of weeks in case the
secretary of state's office finds the group has fewer than 64,456
signatures of valid registered voters.

Tim Humphries, lawyer for the secretary of state's office, said if the
alliance turned in the required number of signatures but some are
invalidated, the group is allowed by law to submit more signatures to try
to make up the difference.

Crater said the Arkansas organization paid The Southwest Group of Las Vegas
to gather signatures. The alliance benefited from $336,000 donated from
Peter B. Lewis of Cleveland, chairman of Progressive Corp. insurance
company, who has given large sums to other such causes.