GOVERNOR UNDECIDED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

MONTPELIER - Medical marijuana advocates are waiting to see what Gov.
James Douglas does with a proposed new law expanding the state's
program, with many hopeful he will allow it to become law without his
signature.

Douglas, a Republican, took a similar stance three years ago when the
Vermont Legislature passed the medical marijuana law allowing some
patients with extremely serious illnesses to legally use and obtain
the drug as a medication.

The new proposal would expand the law to include illnesses that are
chronic, progressive or debilitating, such as severe arthritis or shingles.

Max Schlueter, the director of the Vermont Crime Information Center,
the Public Safety Department division that overseas the program, said
there are 35 people and six caregivers registered with the state to
use marijuana.

Jason Gibbs, Douglas' spokesman, said the governor has not yet seen
the bill, but would review it closely before making a decision. If he
decides it is only a modest expansion of the current law, he would
probably let it go forward without a signature, Gibbs added.

"The governor is certainly sympathetic to those people suffering from
debilitating and chronic illnesses who are seeking this as a way to
alleviate pain," he said. "But he is also reluctant to endorse a bill
that runs afoul of federal law."

State officials said the current medical marijuana program has
operated smoothly and the new legislation address some concerns by
administrators, including that the $100 registration fee - slashed in
half in the new bill - was prohibitive.

Other proposed changes in the bill include increasing the number of
mature and immature plants a patient can grow and allowing
out-of-state doctors to prescribe marijuana to Vermonters.

Under the current law, Vermonters who are prescribed marijuana by a
state doctor and have a life-threatening illness or one that is
"severe, persistent and intractable" can fill out a six-page form and,
if approved, receive a photo identification that states they can use
the medication.

Advocates of the expanded medical marijuana bill are calling on
Douglas to allow it to become law. Mark Tucci, a Manchester Center man
who uses marijuana to ease his symptoms of multiple sclerosis, said
this week that "these improvements will bring more relief to more
suffering patients."

Steve Perry, a Randolph Center resident who wants to use marijuana for
his degenerative joint disease, added that Vermont's current law is
one of the more restrictive among the 12 states that allow the drug to
be used as medication.

"Marijuana gives me relief from the extreme pain I suffer every day,
relief that even powerful narcotics like OxyContin don't give, but
today I risk arrest and jail every time I use it," Perry said.

Schlueter, the director of the Vermont Crime Information Center, is
making no guesses on how the number of people using medical marijuana
may change under the expansion since the state's previous estimates
when the current law passed were far higher than the actual number.

Schlueter said some Vermonters may be hesitant to sign up because
medical marijuana use is still a federal crime and the state does not
now have a mechanism for people to buy or receive the medication from
legitimate dealers or growers.

"They still have to buy it off the street, which I think gives them
pause," he said. "And some people may be hesitant to tell law
enforcement that they intend to use medical marijuana, as opposed to
telling someone from the department of health."

If Douglas does allow the medical marijuana bill to expand the law, it
will bring Vermont's position closer in line with other states,
although still lower on the total scale according to Bruce Mirken, the
director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project in
Washington, D.C.

"What Vermont has now is hyper-restrictive," he said. "This bill would
bring the law closer to the middle of what other states have."