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   . . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to marijuana
                                prohibition.
                              November 6, 1997
 Medical Marijuana Initiatives Filed For 1998 In Maine, Colorado, Elsewhere
        November 6, 1997, Washington, D.C.:   Voters in Colorado and Maine
may have the opportunity to decide whether the use of medical marijuana
under a physician's supervision should be legal under state law.
        Medical marijuana proponents in both states recently filed ballot
initiatives to put the issue to a public vote in 1998.   Americans for
Medical Rights (AMR), the California-based group that spearheaded the
successful passage of Proposition 215 in California, is coordinating the two
state campaigns.
        "Next year is going to be a defining moment in the battle for legal
access to medical marijuana," NORML Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq.
predicted.  "Federal legislators are looking to the states to take the lead
on this issue."
        Colorado's reform effort seeks to amend the state's constitution to
allow anyone holding a state-issued identification card to legally possess
up to an ounce of marijuana.  Patients would also be able to cultivate
marijuana for medical use with a physician's recommendation.  Cultivation
limits are set at six plants, with no more than three plants producing
usable marijuana at any one time.
        A state health agency would keep a confidential registry of patients
who possess valid doctor's recommendations.  Those who obtain marijuana for
medical use would be prohibited from using it in public places, selling or
distributing the drug, or "endangering the health and well-being" of other
people by its use.
        "The time [for medical marijuana] has come," said initiative
co-filer Martin Chilcutt of Coloradans for Medical Rights.   "We can't avoid
it and put our heads in the sand and pretend the need isn't there."
        A similar proposal filed in Maine would limit the use of marijuana
to patients suffering from AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, seizures, or
undergoing cancer chemotherapy.  As in Colorado, the proposal allows
patients to grow up to six marijuana plants.
        "It's pretty clear that this was written to ensure that [opponents]
could not claim that this law would 'open the door' to other uses of
marijuana," said Attorney Ron Kreisman, who drafted the initiative.
        "It's been clear for years that there is broad deep support for
permitting medical use of marijuana among Maine [citizens]," explained Dave
Fratello, spokesman for AMR.  Stephanie Hart, a former Congressional aide
who is now coordinating the statewide effort, agrees.
        "We know from everything we've heard that Maine people will come
forward" to support the medical marijuana drive, she said.
        Stroup sees parallels between Colorado and Maine, and anticipates
both initiatives efforts to be successful in 1998.  "In both instances, you
have states where voters have shown strong support for the issue, but the
Legislature has failed to convert the voters' sentiment into law," he said.
  "Proponents have no choice but to bypass the Legislature and go directly
to the voters."
        Besides Colorado and Maine, grassroots petition drives are also
taking place in Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, and the District of Columbia.
Both Florida's and Washington D.C.'s initiatives are modeled after
California's Proposition 215, while Alaska and Arkansas' language propose
broader drug-law reforms.
        Americans for Medical Rights said that they may back additional
state initiatives in 1998.
        For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup of NORML @
(202) 483-5500 or Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights @ (310)
394-2952.
   Washington State Voters Reject "Drug Medicalization and Prevention Act"
        November 6, 1997, Olympia, WA:   State voters rejected a drug-law
reform ballot initiative that contained provisions allowing physicians to
recommend the use of marijuana as a medicine to seriously ill patients.
        Initiative 685, the "Drug Medicalization and Prevention Act of 1997"
received only 40 percent support from state voters Tuesday.  The defeat came
as a disappointment to reformers, but medical marijuana proponents said that
public support for medical marijuana remains strong.
        "The defeat of I-685 was not a defeat for medical marijuana," NORML
Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said, citing exit poll results indicating 46
percent of those opposed to the initiative would support a measure dealing
only with medical marijuana.  "It further supports our belief that a
majority of Americans favor focused legislation allowing a patient to use
marijuana medicinally under a physician's supervision."
        Tacoma physician Rob Killian, who filed the initiative, told
reporters that he felt I-685's broad language regarding other drugs and
prison reform may have turned off some voters who would have otherwise
supported the measure.  He said that he may file an initiative next year to
deal strictly with medical marijuana.
        In the meantime, state legislators Alex Deccio (R-Yakima) and Jeanne
Kohl (D-Seattle) announced they will work to push the issue forward in the
Legislature.  Deccio, who chairs the Senate Health and Long Term Care
Committee, said he will likely hold hearings on the issue, and Kohl
announced that she hopes to co-sponsor legislation permitting the use of
marijuana as a medicine.
        "I'd like to focus only on marijuana and keep it [limited] to
medical use," Kohl said.  "I think we're farther ahead than we were a year
ago, especially with public awareness of the issue."
        Kohl previously sponsored a medical marijuana appropriation bill in
1996 that secured $130,000 to conduct a state study into the benefits of
marijuana as a medicine.  That proposal remains delayed indefinitely while
awaiting federal approval.
        For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Keith
Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.
 Judge Denies AIDS And Cancer Patient Opportunity To Use Defense Of "Medical
                        Necessity" Against Pot Charge
        November 6, 1997, Detroit, MI:   A district court judge yesterday
reversed her week-old decision to allow an AIDS and cancer patient facing
marijuana charges to present evidence that he uses the drug as part of his
medical treatment.
        The case involves Peter McWilliams, a best-selling author and former
Detroit resident who is facing criminal charges for possession of seven
marijuana cigarettes.  McWilliams, who now lives in California, uses
marijuana medicinally to alleviate the side effects of the AIDS wasting
syndrome and cancer chemotherapy.  He was arrested December 17, 1996, at
Detroit Metropolitan Airport after telling officers that he was carrying
marijuana legally acquired in California.
        William's attorney, NORML's Legal Committee member Richard Lustig,
expressed extreme surprise at the judge's reversal.  "Judge [Tina] Green's
initial decision was brave a correct," Lustig said.  "Thousands of patients
rely on medical marijuana to relieve their pain and to ease their nausea and
other side effects caused by medical treatment."
        Judge Green said she reversed her position after concluding that
McWilliams would not suffer bodily harm if he stopped using marijuana as
part of his medical treatment.  McWilliams contests that assertion.
        "Without medical marijuana, I can't keep down the drugs that are
keeping me alive," McWilliams said.  "Judge Green's original decision may
not be considered politically correct by some, but it was definitely the
medically correct decision to make."
        Lustig said he will immediately file an appeal with the Wayne County
Circuit Court.
        For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup, Esq. of
NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or NORML Legal Committee member Richard Lustig @
(810) 258-1600.
                                    -END-
  MORE THAN 10 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 . . . ANOTHER EVERY 49
                                  SECONDS!
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