PROSPECTS DON'T LOOK GOOD FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA STATUTE

What do you get with a Republican-dominated Statehouse, a governor's
office with the usual slant against illegal drug use, and a proposal
for a medicinal marijuana law?

Maybe, just maybe, a marijuana pill, or even a spray. But a big
"maybe" at that.

Currently, Ohio medicinal marijuana proponents are ironing out some
confusion within a bill they've been drafting for more than a year
now. But as the time nears to present what they're calling the Ohio
Medicinal Marijuana Act to the floors of the Statehouse, even
proponents grudgingly acknowledge the prospects don't look good. Ohio
is still a long way from getting even a whiff of legislation allowing
those who suffer from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and a host of
other ailments the choice to benefit from medicinal marijuana.

The nonprofit Ohio Patients Network (OPN) recently forwarded a draft
to Democratic state Rep. Ken Carano from Youngstown. OPN is the lead
public sponsor of a medicinal marijuana bill, and Carano is considered
one of Ohio's few political officeholders who would even consider
taking such a bill to the Statehouse, where Republicans significantly
outnumber Democrats.

Also in Columbus is the governor's wife, Hope Taft, who played a major
role in strong-arming last summer's Issue 1 into submission and is
also recognized as one of the nation's leading "War on Drugs" proponents.

It is widely known that Issue 1 -- a public vote authorizing
rehabilitation instead of prison for possession offenders -- was
defeated with the help of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money.
Viewed by some as zealots against recreational drug use, the
governor's office used public money to put down a public vote. An
elected official helped squash the electoral process. This is
prohibited under state law.

In essence, presenting a medicinal marijuana bill at the Statehouse is
akin to throwing a Christian to the lions.

"The executive branch is pretty much against this," conceded Carano,
who admitted that just getting the bill into committee and thus into a
debate among both Republicans and Democrats would mean a victory.

"This bill goes nowhere if I can't get some Republicans on my side,"
said the 58-year-old Carano, a self-described "very liberal person."

For instance, the speaker of the Ohio House -- Republican Larry
Householder -- gets first shot on whether the bill is even worthy for
committee. But Carano believes there's a number of moderate
Republicans who, if anything, are willing to listen.

A former teacher, Carano stressed that in no way is he advocating the
use of marijuana for any reason but medicinal. Along with "a strong
basis of medical fact," he said his instinct is telling him many could
benefit from medicinal marijuana.

He likened the debate to the short history of OxyContin. There was
widespread abuse among non-patients, but thousands more now depend on
it for their quality of life. The opposition, said Carano, refers to
this potential problem as the "control" issue. The issue's premise is
whether or not medicinal marijuana can stay within the possession of
patients and stay out of the hands of abusers.

The "control" problem has become a major contention for, most notably,
the state's professional rehabilitation community. They see forms of
medicinal marijuana heading the way of heroin and methadone -- drugs
created for medicinal applications eventually twisting into another
fuel for addiction.

"I'm not doing this for fun and games," Carano said. "I want an honest
debate from both sides of the argument." He said he's currently being
"bombarded" with information both pro and con for medicinal marijuana.

Nevertheless, overshadowing any initiative seeking to relax state drug
laws is the Tafts' committed position against illegal buzzes. Take the
recent confusion over the proposed medicinal marijuana bill.

Carano, along with other Statehouse figures, has been priming the bill
for potential debate. Carano recently suggested to Columbus' The Other
Paper that the bill's only chance might lie in how it stipulates
delivery of the marijuana or THC -- in this case, pill form alone.

The Ohio Patients Network immediately corrected Carano, stating that
the bill needs to include several different delivery methods. Deirdre
Zoretic, director of patient advocacy for the Ohio Patient Network,
said that many patients find that a medicinal marijuana pill, such as
Marinol, worsens their nausea.

"That was just an idea," said Zoretic from Cleveland. "It has to be
set up different to represent all those who need its benefits.

"Different patients need different methods of delivery," she added,
"whether that's ingesting it, a rub, a mist, or a product called the
'Volcano' (an inhaler-like apparatus available in Europe). I would
like to keep the smoking method open as well."

In its three-year existence, the Ohio Patients Network has become a
formidable grass-roots effort for medicinal marijuana use. Zoretic
said the organization is 600 strong statewide and seeking to gain the
support of what she believes is a large number of Ohio medicinal
marijuana users afraid to leave the proverbial closet.

"I honestly feel there are thousands upon thousands already treating
themselves with marijuana, and I believe many more thousands haven't
discovered the benefits of medicinal marijuana yet," she said.

Zoretic, who suffers from a nerve disease called Reflex Sympathetic
Dystrophy (RSD), said that roughly 200 medical conditions can be
alleviated by medicinal marijuana. However, after Cleveland Police
accidentally discovered several plants in her house, she was
prosecuted and claims to have stopped using marijuana since then.

"The stress from being prosecuted exacerbated my condition," she said
of the pain that frequently strikes RSD patients.

Not surprisingly, the arrest and subsequent trial wouldn't be the
first time so-called "drug warriors" pushed her around mentally and
physically.

At an Issue 1 debate last November in Cleveland, Zoretic said she
tried to offer Gov. Taft a summary of a White House-commissioned 1999
Institute of Medicine report that concluded medicinal marijuana can
benefit some patients. But before she could reach the governor, the
tall and slender Hope Taft grabbed the petite Zoretic and physically
held her back.

To Zoretic's surprise, Mrs. Taft was familiar with her and her cause.

"I started to explain to her who I was and she knew," recalled
Zoretic. She said Hope Taft at least listened to what she had to say
and even offered sympathy for those seeking medicinal marijuana.

In the Athens area, another proponent of medicinal marijuana who also
has felt the sting of drug warriors noted that Canada and Britain are
leaving their past marijuana prejudices behind because of overwhelming
evidence that thousands can improve their lives with medicinal
marijuana. In both nations, a doctor or the government can prescribe
medicinal marijuana for legal use.

Don Wirtshafter, who once owned the Ohio Hempery in Guysville, said
that he's traveled to England for months at a time during the last two
years consulting for several pharmaceutical operations seeking to
introduce medicinal marijuana products.

"Eighty-one percent of multiple sclerosis patients in England and 96
percent in Canada said herbal cannabis is good medicine," said
Wirthshafter. Pot decreases the number and severity of spasms in MS
patients, he said, noting that the studies were conducted with the
help of pharmaceutical companies and multiple sclerosis groups.

"The British and Canadians are clearly in favor of medicinal
marijuana," he said.

Wirtshafter was compelled in part to close the Ohio Hempery two years
ago after the federal Drug Enforcement Agency stepped up its crackdown
on the distribution of hemp seeds and other hemp products. He since
has moved that operation to Canada.

Currently, under federal law, medicinal marijuana is illegal. However,
10 states are trumping federal law. Eight of those states' medicinal
laws were created through referendum (or public vote), while the laws
of the other two states were passed by state government.