Forwarded From Area: NETMAIL
Subj: OHIO MOVES TO RECRIMINALI
From: "Carl E. Olsen" 
Lawmakers Move Quickly to Fix Marijuana Defense Oversight
By PAUL SOUHRADA
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- For five months, an obscure provision of Ohio
law has made it legal for people to argue that they have medical
reasons for possessing marijuana.
State officials say they didn't know anything about it, but
administration lawyers set out Wednesday to reverse the law.
The law, which allows marijuana smokers to claim chronic illness or
pain as a legal defense, was largely forgotten after it was inserted
into a lengthy criminal sentencing bill two years ago.
"The provision was stuck in a bill that was 1,000 pages long," said
Kathy Fleck, a spokeswoman for Gov. George Voinovich.
"There were a number of points that were hotly debated in the
Legislature," she said. "This particular issue was not."
Since it took effect July 1, there's no indication anyone tried to
invoke the law, which doesn't prevent people from being charged with
possession of marijuana.  A judge or jury, however, can take into
consideration a defendant's written recommendation from a doctor to
use marijuana.
Voinovich, Attorney General Betty Montgomery and former state Sen. Tim
Greenwood -- the sponsor of the sentencing bill -- all said they had
no idea the marijuana defense had become law.
"The attorney general tries to follow important pieces of legislation,
but is not able to know what's on every page of every bill passed by
the Legislature," Weaver said.
"Why not?," asked Bob Demuth, a Grandview resident getting an early
jump on this Christmas shopping downtown.  "They shouldn't put so much
in them if people can't understand them."
The issue didn't surface until Wednesday when it was reported by The
Cincinnati Enquirer and the Columbus Dispatch.
The attorney general's staff immediately began writing a new bill to
override the marijuana law.  Lawmakers are expected to introduce the
bill when they reconvene in January.
"I think there's a fear that a doctor with particularly liberal idea
of what an illness is may write prescriptions for marijuana willy-
nilly," Weaver said.
People who suffer from cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and some
rare genetic diseases say marijuana helps control nausea and muscle
spasms, eases eye pressure and pain and stimulates appetite.  Pot-
using patients insist it works better than other drugs, including the
expensive Marinol, a pill that contain's marijuana's active
ingredient, THC.
AP-WS-11-27-96 1854EST
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