MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE:

Bills Killed in Arkansas, Wyoming But Moving Forward in Maryland,
Vermont, Bad Bill Introduced in Oregon

As the spring legislative season at state capitols around the country
begins to wind down, the record on medical marijuana at the statehouse
this year is decidedly mixed. In the latest voting, legislators in
Arkansas and Wyoming killed medical marijuana bills, but solons in
Maryland and Vermont, where the issue has been in play for several
sessions, have kept legislation alive and moving forward. Meanwhile,
in Oregon, where voters passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1998,
activists are mobilizing to defeat a bill that would place new
restrictions on the existing program.

In Arkansas, a medical marijuana bill (HB 1321) sponsored by Rep. Jim
Lendall (D-Mabelvale) died in committee March 12. The bill would have
allowed registered patients to grow and possess small amounts of
medical marijuana upon consultation with a doctor, but was restricted
to pain relief for cancer, AIDS, and other "debilitating medical
conditions."

Although the bill was supported with testimony by several patients and
former US Surgeon General Dr. Jocelyn Elders and pushed by the
Alliance for Drug Reform in Arkansas (http://www.ardpark.org), members
of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted it down,
citing concerns about making marijuana legal in some circumstances and
questioning why prescription Marinol would not suffice.

Perhaps lawmakers were influenced by drug prohibitionist Ken Fithen,
associate director of the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, who told
the committee: "This bill would open the door to major problems with
dangerous and toxic drugs. It's the gateway drug. We're sending a very
wrong message to our young people."

In Wyoming, a medical marijuana bill sponsored by state Sen. Keith
Goodenough (D-District 28) died Monday when the Senate leadership
refused to act on it, instead placing it on the dead letter "general
file." The defeat was at least the sixth for Goodenough's
long-standing campaign to pass such a bill in Wyoming. Goodenough's
bill would have allowed seriously ill people to use marijuana with
their doctors' approval.

Goodenough had succeeded in guiding this year's bill through the
Senate Judiciary Committee, where several of his previous efforts had
met their doom, on a 3-2 vote last month. "It's a fairness issue,"
Goodenough said at the time of that vote. "If you're gonna die in two
months, you should be able to do whatever you want. It really bothers
me that the government steps between the doctor and patient."

As in Arkansas, opponents of the Wyoming medical marijuana bill cited
concerns about federal intervention and concerns about handling a
non-pharmaceutical medicine, as well as reciting drug war bugaboos.
One lobbyist for the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of
Police warned the committee that marijuana use leads to violence.

But if this year's efforts have now failed in Arkansas and Wyoming,
bills continued to move in recent days in Vermont and Maryland. On
March 13, the Vermont Senate passed a medical marijuana bill by a
margin of 22-7. The bill now moves on to the House, which passed an
almost identical bill last year. The Marijuana Policy Project
(http://www.mpp.org), which has spent nearly $150,000 on lobbying and
other efforts to advance medical marijuana in Vermont in the last two
years, reports that it expects this year's bill to pass the House.

But MPP is keeping a careful watch on Gov. Jim Douglas (R), who has
been talking out of both sides of his mouth about medical marijuana in
recent weeks. Last year, pressure from then Gov. Howard Dean (D), now
a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, derailed a
similar bill that seemed set to pass. MPP has announced a $20,000 TV
advertising campaign to pressure Douglas to sign the bill if and when
it passes the House.

"Last year, the Vermont House passed a nearly identical bill by a vote
of 82-59, becoming the first Republican-controlled state legislative
chamber ever to pass a medical marijuana bill," said Billy Rogers,
director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, based in
Washington, DC. "We have every reason to expect a similar vote this
year. Then, the question will be whether or not Governor Jim Douglas
follows the will of Vermont's citizens and their elected
representatives."

According to MPP, the House should vote on the bill next
month.

And in Maryland, medical marijuana proponents won what MPP called a
"partial victory" Tuesday when the state House of Delegates passed an
amended version of HB 702 in a see-saw session that saw the bill first
defeated, then passed on a second vote. The amended version of the
bill, which reduces penalties for medical marijuana users but still
leaves them facing arrest, lost in the first vote because some key
supporters were not present and others voted "no" to protest its dilution.

"We support the amended version of this bill, but with reservations,"
MPP's Billy Rogers. MPP has supported medical marijuana legislation in
Maryland for the past four legislative sessions. "While this bill is a
step forward in our struggle to protect seriously ill Marylanders, it
does not go far enough. Patients with cancer, AIDS and other serious
illnesses will still be handcuffed, possibly spend a night in jail,
prosecuted, and forced to hire lawyers to defend themselves. Under
this bill, even if the court agrees that a patient was using medical
marijuana legitimately, the patient will still be punished with a
fine," said Rogers. "While we support this bill as a small step
forward, we will certainly be back next year to advocate for
legislation that removes the threat of arrest entirely."

Observers expect action in the state Senate soon. The bill was bottled
up in a Senate committee awaiting action by the House, but now should
be taken up again.

Finally, medical marijuana supporters are mobilizing to stop an Oregon
bill that would force participants in that state's ongoing medical
marijuana program to complete an education course and would bar anyone
with a prior drug conviction from participating in the program.
Introduced by Rep. Jeff Kruse (R-Roseburg), HB 2939 is set for a
hearing at the Health and Human Services Committee today (March 21).

Oregon's medical marijuana program, despite some problems, has been a
model for efforts across the nation. It has expanded from 594 card
holders in April 2000 to 4,639 card holders in February.

To read the Vermont bill online, go to:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/legdoc.cfm?URL=/docs/2004/bills/senate/S-076.HTM

To read the Maryland bill online, go to:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2003rs/billfile/HB0702.htm

To read the Oregon bill online, go to:
http://pub.das.state.or.us/LEG_BILLS/PDFs/HB2939.pdf