MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATED

House Candidate Also Supports Lower Prescription Costs

COLUMBUS | An outspoken advocate of lessening criminal sanctions for
marijuana says a vote for him in his race for an Ohio House seat is a vote
for legalizing the drug for medical use.

To push the issue, which he says is just a small part of his agenda,
Kenneth Schweickart, a Democrat, has to win his race first - and the odds
are stacked against him.

Schweickart, 32, narrowly upset a union-backed Democrat in the primary, but
he faces a labor-supported Republican incumbent, Jim Hughes, in a district
that is 59 percent GOP. Green Party candidate Alan Amstutz also is on the
ballot.

''I take my opponents very seriously,'' said Hughes, 38. ''I run only one
way. That's very hard. I take nothing for granted.''

Schweickart, who wears his long, brown hair pulled back in a disheveled
ponytail, is running in his first race for public office.

''I'm frustrated that none of our politicians are thinking about the
long-term good for Ohio. Rather, they come up with half-cocked Band-Aid
solutions to the problems,'' Schweickart said.

He said that he would, among other things, reduce the cost of prescription
drugs by requiring insurance companies to contract with pharmaceutical
companies; allow slot machines at racetracks with profits going to decrease
health-care costs for senior citizens; and spark Ohio's economy by
promoting clean technological energy instead of fossil fuel energy.

An investment entrepreneur who became a stock broker at age 18, Schweickart
has been a leader in the local marijuana legalization community.

In 2001, he headed a ballot initiative that would have let voters decide
whether to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in
Columbus. His group, For a Better Ohio, failed to collect enough valid
signatures to get the issue on the ballot.

He also is the director of development for the Ohio Patient Network, a
coalition of people who support medical marijuana.

''My stance on medical marijuana is a sub-priority within my health-care
agenda,'' Schweickart said. Still, he added: ''A vote for me is also a vote
for medical marijuana.''

Schweickart also supports state Issue 1, which would require that some
first-time drug offenders receive treatment instead of jail time.

Conversely, Hughes does not support Issue 1 and said that the decision of
whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes is best left up to the
medical community. ''Doctors are the ones who are experts on that issue,''
he said.

In other states, dozens of candidates for elective offices have said they
support legalizing marijuana for medical use, but only a few have actively
campaigned for decriminalizing the drug, said Keith Stroup, executive
director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

''Most candidates for public office still run very scared when it comes to
drug policy because they're afraid their opponents will say they're soft on
drugs,'' Stroup said.

Among the other activists running for office this year:

. Thomas Leighton, a New York gubernatorial candidate who formed the
Marijuana Reform Party of New York in 1997, which is dedicated to ending
marijuana prohibition.

. Mark Leno, the Democratic candidate for the 13th California Assembly seat
who as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently
proposed, among other reform measures, that city officials consider growing
and distributing marijuana to ill patients.

- -Jonathan Adler, a staunch activist working to legalize marijuana, tried to
run for governor in Hawaii, but was disqualified after being sentenced in
September to a year in prison for felony drug convictions.

In Ohio, Mark Rutkus, executive director of the Franklin County Democratic
Party, said fringe voters who know of Schweickart because of his activism
might help him in the general election as they did in the primary.

''He was able to appeal to folks who may not have been active politically
before that, and I think that he can reach out to those people and identify
with them,'' Rutkus said.

In the May primary, Schweickart stunned fellow Democrats by beating Gary
Josephson, a Communication Workers of American union official, by 31 votes,
grabbing 50.6 percent, or 1,333 votes cast.

Hughes ran in the primary uncontested, but still had nearly double the
votes cast for Schweickart and Josephson combined.

Hughes, a clean-cut attorney and former Franklin County assistant
prosecutor, first was elected to the House in 2000 after a bitter primary
battle in which he beat an incumbent and then won in a tight general
election race.

While in office as a freshman lawmaker, he pushed through anti-pornography
and identity theft legislation. In this campaign he is endorsed by labor,
business, police and fire organizations.

Schweickart isn't daunted by Hughes' success and popularity.

''It's always tough to beat an incumbent,'' Schweickart said, ''but it can
be done. I'm out to prove it.''