MCCALL, GOLISANO BACK MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

ALBANY - Democratic candidate for governor H. Carl McCall and Independence
Party candidate B. Thomas Golisano came out Tuesday for legalization of
marijuana for medical purposes.

The two challengers also called on Republican Gov. George Pataki to
participate in three-way debates instead of debates like the Sunday
encounter in New York City, which featured the three of them plus four
other minor-party candidates. Another seven-candidate session is scheduled
for this coming Sunday in Syracuse.

Spokesmen for Pataki rejected the calls for medical marijuana and for
three-way debates.

"Experts at the state Health Department are not convinced this is the
appropriate response," said Pataki spokesman Robert Hinckley. Hinckley said
department officials felt there were other, legal drugs that "provide the
same relief."

Questions about marijuana arose after Golisano, the billionaire businessman
from Rochester, scheduled a news conference for today in Albany to make a
case for allowing it to be used by sick people. Golisano was also to unveil
a new campaign TV ad calling for medical marijuana.

Asked about legalizing marijuana for medical use, McCall spokesman Steven
Greenberg said the state comptroller "supports that as long as it is
prescribed by a doctor or other health care professional."

Meanwhile, Golisano campaign manager Charles Halloran and Greenberg said
the two campaigns were seeking venues that would sponsor three-way debates
between Pataki, McCall and Golisano.

Halloran said he had raised the possibility with McCall campaign aides of
the two challengers skipping the Syracuse debate, but that idea had been
rejected by McCall.

Halloran said Golisano felt the seven-candidate format was "worthless and a
waste of time."

"Carl thinks the debate Sunday was a circus and a disservice to the people
of the state," Greenberg said. McCall also wants a one-on-one debate
against Pataki.

Pataki campaign spokesman Michael McKeon said the governor would not agree
to three-way or two-way debates.

"We had a great debate on Sunday and are looking forward to another one
this coming Sunday," the Pataki aide said. "Then we take our case directly
to the people."

Pataki has insisted all minor-party candidates be included in debates, a
strategy the McCall and Golisano camps claim is designed to shield the
two-term governor from their attacks.

Also Tuesday, McCall rebuked Pataki for what the state comptroller called
"a record of neglect, indifference and mismanagement" in delivering health
care.

And, in an interview with The New York Times, McCall said the Republican
governor lacked a political ideology.

"Governor Pataki has refused to acknowledge that health care is in trouble
in New York, and he has offered no plan to improve health care
administration or services," McCall said. "Decisions about health care are
being made by and for industry executives and GOP fund-raisers, not
providers or patients."

McCall said the governor has done too little to address a shortage of nurses.

In response, a coordinator for the 27,000-member Nurse Alliance of New York
State issued a statement saying Pataki's record in support of nurses was
"second to none."

Meanwhile, the Republican governor added to his string of endorsements by
picking up the backing on Tuesday of bodega owners. The support from the
7,000-member New York City-based Bodega Owners Association of the United
States marked yet another victory for Pataki in his effort to snare
Hispanic voters.

Trailing in fund-raising and in the polls, McCall kept up the pressure on
Pataki, once again charging that the governor was in large part responsible
for the impending state budget crisis. Estimates of the state's budget gap
for the fiscal year that begins April 1 have ranged from $5 billion to $10
billion or more. This year's entire state budget is worth about $89 billion.

In a lengthy interview with the Times for its Tuesday editions, McCall said
Pataki had not done enough during boom years to prepare the state for such
a downturn. And McCall accused Pataki of blowing with the political winds
in search of votes to help win a third term.

"He has no real ideology," the state comptroller told the Times. "He is a
pragmatist and goes where he thinks people want to see him."

Pataki, having moved to the political center during his second term, has
had great success in recent months picking off the support of prominent
Democrats and traditionally Democratic labor unions.