MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA GAINS SUPPORT

ALBANY - Flanked by terminally ill people who told tales of unrelenting
pain, Tom Golisano today endorsed the medical use of marijuana, and lashed
out at Gov. George E. Pataki for blocking a state program to provide the
drug to patients.

"My approach to this issue is to return the discretion to the doctors, who
are trained to make these decisions," said Mr. Golisano, the Independence
Party candidate for governor. He charged that Mr. Pataki was opposed
"because he is in the pocket of the big drug companies who stand to lose
money if medical marijuana is made available."

Mr. Pataki's administration, like that of Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, has refused
to put into effect a 1980 law letting severely sick people use marijuana,
subject to a prescription and approval by a state board. Some doctors and
patients say that in some cases, marijuana is more effective against pain
than standard medicines, and it can combat the appetite loss that
contributes to many seriously ill people's wasting away.

H. Carl McCall, the Democratic candidate, like Mr. Golisano, says he would
activate the state program.

In the past, aides to Mr. Pataki, a Republican, have flatly said he opposes
medical marijuana. Asked about it today at upstate stops in Saratoga
Springs and Bolton Landing, the governor at first declined to give an
opinion, saying only that "our medical professionals" did not think
marijuana use was warranted.

When pressed, he said, "They have concluded that it is not justified at
this time, that there are alternatives, and I support that conclusion."

Mr. Golisano continues to try to broaden his appeal, after spending most of
the campaign wooing disaffected voters upstate by emphasizing the poor
economy there. In recent weeks, he has proposed free or reduced tuition for
public college students, and spoken out about issues like medical marijuana
and easing the Rockefeller-era drug laws, issues that are more likely to
appeal to voters in New York City.

"There's no question upstate the economy is the main thing on people's
minds," he said. "As we move downstate, there's probably much greater
concern about the Rockefeller drug laws."

Lisa Reiss, one of the people who joined Mr. Golisano today at the Albany
Public Library, has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. She said her
husband, who died from AIDS and cancer, "lasted a lot longer with the help
of the marijuana."

"I've used it," she said. "It has eased a lot of my pain. I would use it
again if it was legal."

Mr. McCall, casting about for an issue that will rescue his foundering
campaign, called today for the Justice Department to investigate links
between the Pataki administration and a company founded by, among others,
Pataki campaign contributors. The company, CarePlus, has won a series of
state contracts, despite poor performance ratings.

In a statement, Mr. Pataki's campaign manager, Adam Stoll, dismissed the
entire McCall campaign as "hysterical and desperate."

A Quinnipiac University poll released today showed Mr. Pataki still holding
a strong lead over Mr. McCall among likely voters, 47 percent to 31
percent, while Mr. Golisano had his best showing yet in a public survey, 18
percent.

Mr. McCall was in California today to raise money, forcing him to rely on
surrogates to stump for him. In a series of news conferences around the
state, his supporters unveiled his new television advertisement, one that
accuses the governor of "trying to fool us again." It responds to a Pataki
ad in which Mr. McCall appears to say that upstate school districts should
get less money from the state, and says that, in fact, he would give more
to those schools.

The events pointed up the difficulty Mr. McCall has had in making pointed,
high-volume responses to the governor's attacks. In this case, the Pataki
ad has been on the air for two weeks, largely unanswered, to devastating
effect.

The Working Families Party, which supports Mr. McCall, today began
broadcasting a separate ad, attacking the governor on education by
parodying one of Mr. Pataki's.

The Pataki ad shows several children saying what they want to be when they
grow up, including a girl who says she wants to be governor. In the Working
Families version, when Mr. Pataki says he, too, wants to be governor, a
large red "F" lands on the image of his face.