MEDICAL POT MAY AGAIN GO TO VOTERS

D.C. voters could get another chance to vote on legalizing marijuana for
medicinal uses, but congressmen who blocked the measure in 1998 are already
preparing to mount a challenge.

The District-based Marijuana Policy Project yesterday presented to the Board
of Elections and Ethics 39,000 signatures from residents who want to bring
the issue to referendum -- more than twice the number of signatures required
under city law. If at least 17,500 signatures are verified, the issue will
be on November's ballot.

"This safely qualifies us for the referendum," said Robert Kampia, executive
director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit that supports the use
of medicinal marijuana for those afflicted with debilitating illnesses. "We
did not want some bad guys in Congress to challenge us on this."

But opposition to the bill is brewing on Capitol Hill. Rep. Bob Barr,
Georgia Republican, sent a letter yesterday to Rep. Joe Knollenberg,
chairman of the House Appropriations District of Columbia subcommittee,
requesting that he include in the city's funding bill for 2003 an amendment
that would block spending on the initiative.

It was a similar amendment introduced by Mr. Barr in 1998 that prevented the
initiative from going into effect, though it had passed with 69 percent of
the vote. Mr. Kampia's group later challenged the amendment in federal
court, which ruled this year that the amendment was unconstitutional and
cleared the way for a second referendum.

"The D.C. initiative is another attempt by the drug-legalization movement to
move its agenda forward, to legalize marijuana under the pretext of
'medicinal' use," Mr. Barr wrote in his letter to Mr. Knollenberg, Michigan
Republican. "My language is wholly appropriate and necessary, to prevent
legalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia, and to prevent the
use of taxpayers' monies to carry out the provisions of any such
initiative."

Eight states currently have laws that allow the use of marijuana as
medicine: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and
Washington. All states allow residents who are seriously ill to grow and use
small quantities of marijuana to alleviate the pain caused by the disease or
treatment.

The Supreme Court ruled last year against medical necessity as a valid
defense for distribution of medicinal marijuana. The decision struck down a
California law that allowed groups like the Oakland Cannabis Buyers
Cooperative to distribute marijuana to patients with a doctor's approval.

Advocates argue marijuana can greatly alleviate the suffering of people who
have debilitating illnesses.

Mr. Kampia said medicinal marijuana is particularly important to the
District, which has a higher-than-average number of AIDS patients. "We do
not believe sick people should be put into prison for using medical
marijuana," he said.

The group is lobbying Congress to stop any challenges to the referendum, Mr.
Kampia said, adding that his group would not give up their effort to
legalize medicinal marijuana in the District.

Five of nine D.C. Council members filed affidavits in federal court this
year backing the Medical Marijuana Project lawsuit: Chairman Linda W. Cropp,
at-large Democrat; Sandy Allen, Ward 8 Democrat; Phil Mendelson, at-large
Democrat; Kathy Patterson, Ward 3 Democrat; and Jim Graham, Ward 1 Democrat.
Some council members say D.C. residents have a right to decide what they
need.

"The initiative is justified on its merits, but it is also a matter of home
rule," said Mr. Graham, who joined a news conference organized by Mr.
Kampia's group at One Judiciary Square yesterday.

Mr. Graham said his support for the initiative grew out of his experience as
former executive director of the D.C. chapter of the Whitman Walker Clinic
for HIV/AIDS patients.

"I saw for myself the specific circumstances when patients need medical
marijuana. I believe doctors ought to prescribe it . I feel comfortable
about that," he said.

While marijuana does not cure any illnesses, studies show it can alleviate
pain and help patients, Mr. Kampia said.

"It allows AIDS patients to eat, and that helps them stay alive," he said.

Under the initiative, people suffering from debilitating diseases could --
with a physician's prescription -- possess three mature marijuana plants,
four immature marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana.