SUPPORTER OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA CRITICIZED

The executive director of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council on
Monday questioned the motives of a wealthy Ohio insurance tycoon who
is bankrolling the drive to legalize medical marijuana.

Larry Page of Roland said he believes that Peter B. Lewis of
Cleveland, chairman of Progressive Corp., really wants to legalize
recreational use of marijuana and medical marijuana is the first step
toward that goal.

"Is Mr. Lewis that concerned with the glaucoma patient in Marianna or
the Dover resident suffering from chronic pain?" Page asked during a
news conference at the state Capitol.

Page accused Lewis of masterminding a "masquerade" with "bags of
money" to dupe "simple-minded Arkies" into thinking the marijuana
drive is about compassion for sick people.

Lewis has given $336,000 toward the Arkansas medical marijuana
initiative, said Denele Campbell of West Fork, executive director of
the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas.

A spokesman for Lewis said he was out of the country but said he was
reachable by e-mail. He didn't immediately respond to an email from
the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Campbell said the drive to legalize medical marijuana is "not at all"
an incremental step toward full legalization. She said she's never met
Lewis.

"I would be speculating to say what his motivations are," she said.
"I'd like to think that it's because he's a compassionate person who
has enough wealth to support things he cares about."

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Lewis has supported previous
efforts to change drug laws.

Lewis has donated $7 million to the American Civil Liberties Union and
earmarked $5 million of that for the group's drug-policy litigation
project. He also contributed more than $3 million to organizations
that are trying to defeat President Bush. Lewis was arrested for
marijuana possession in 2000 in New Zealand. He made a contribution to
a drug rehabilitation center and the charges were "discharged without
conviction."

A Progressive spokesman told the Plain Dealer that Lewis' "support of
such initiatives comes entirely from his personal funds" and does not
reflect views of the insurance company.

Page also announced Monday that he's helped form a ballot committee --
the Coalition Against Legalized Marijuana -- to oppose the medical
marijuana issue. Filing papers with the Ethics Commission enables the
group to raise money and spend campaign funds. Page said Lewis'
involvement necessitated his supporters taking the medical marijuana
drive more seriously.

The Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana has said it's confident
that it will gather enough signatures of registered voters to qualify
its proposed initiated act for the Nov. 2 general election ballot, a
spokesman for the group said Friday.

The alliance needs to turn in the petition with at least 64,456
Arkansas registered voter signatures on it by Friday.

Page said that he doesn't think the marijuana proposal has enough
safeguards to keep recreational users from posing as sick people to
get the drug.

Further, he said that medical marijuana is unnecessary because
Marinol, a synthetic form of an ingredient in marijuana, does a good
job relieving pain and nausea for cancer and AIDS patients.

Campbell disputed Page on each point. She said the state Health
Department would regulate those seeking medical marijuana. She also
said that Marinol isn't the same thing as marijuana.

"That's a big misunderstanding by a lot of people," she said.
"Marijuana has a complex group of ingredients that work together.
Marinol is only one of the ingredients."

Also Monday, John Thomas, the vice president of the Arkansas Marriage
Amendment Committee, said the committee has gathered the signatures of
140,000 Arkansans for the group's ballot proposal. But Thomas said he
isn't sure whether enough valid registered voters are on the petition
to qualify for the ballot.

"If we make a claim and something happens and we are way off, we don't
want to look foolish," he said.

The petition needs only 80,570 registered voters' signatures to
qualify the amendment for the Nov. 2 ballot.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would define marriage in
Arkansas as the union of a man and a woman. Information for this
article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette.