MCCALL 'HIGH' ON POT AS RX

October 16, 2002 -- Carl McCall, who says he's never smoked pot, announced
yesterday he wants to make it legal to inhale, as long as it's for medical
purposes.

In contrast to Gov. Pataki, McCall supports legalization of marijuana "as
long as it is prescribed by a doctor or other health-care professional,"
said Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for McCall.

Questions about marijuana arose after Independence Party candidate Tom
Golisano scheduled a news conference for today in Albany to make a case for
allowing sick people to use pot.

Golisano also was planning to air a new campaign TV ad calling for medical
marijuana.

Meanwhile, Pataki's campaign wasn't so high on the idea of using cannabis
in medical cases.

"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."

McCall has said he has never tried pot. In his 1998 autobiography, Pataki
admitted to smoking pot and eating marijuana mixed with baked beans while
he was a student in law school.

Meanwhile, McCall also slammed Pataki's health-care record yesterday, while
the governor picked up the endorsement of a bodega-owners group in East Harlem.

"At that so-called debate we had last Sunday, the governor said he was
proud of his record in terms of health care," McCall said. "Well, he really
shouldn't be proud of it."

McCall unveiled a four-point plan that would ban mandatory overtime for
nurses except in emergencies, create more nursing scholarships and start a
pre-nursing curriculum in public high schools.

The Pataki campaign responded by asking the heads of four major state
health-care groups to send testimonials about the governor's record to
reporters.

"Gov. George Pataki has truly been a 'health-care governor,' " said Kenneth
Raske, the president of the Greater New York Hospital Association in his
statement.

Campaigning for the second time in less than a week in East Harlem, Pataki
also defended his health programs.

"The bodegas, the supermercados, are the backbones of the community,"
gushed Pataki, a resident of Putnam County - an area not exactly known for
its Latino markets.