The TV Column

By John Carmody
Washington Post Staff Writer

As the producers of CBS's "Murphy Brown" are discovering once again, you
can't please everyone every week. Last month they basked in praise for the
Wednesday night show's threeepisode story arc about Murphy (Candice
Bergen) successfully confronting breast cancer . . .

But earlier this week the Women's Healthcare Educational Network took the
series to task for a line about a prosthetic breast in which Murphy joked,
"Should I go with Demi Moore or Elsie the Cow?"

The group complained the comment undermined "the selfconfidence of the
millions of women who wear external breast forms today, as well as those
women facing breast cancer in the future" . . .

Tonight's episode involves Murphy using marijuana for medicinal purposes to
deal with the effects of chemotherapy . . .

That's drawn complaints from the Northwest Center for Health & Safety and
the Coalition for Healthy Communities . . .

A CBS spokeswoman said the episode is responsibly handled and does not in
any way advocate legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Last week in a
radio interview, federal drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey declined to comment
on the program but did discuss the issues involved . . .

Locally, the supporters (including ACTUP) of the Medical Marijuana Ballot
Initiative will meet tonight at Tunnicliff's Tavern at 222 Seventh St. SE
to watch "Murphy Brown" on WUSA at 8:30. They're all in favor of the show .
. .