Mount Vernon, WA

Lt. Governor and Doctor spar over drug initiative 685 (Washington State)

They agree it does more than allow marijuana use

By David Ammons Associated Press Writer

OLYMPIAThe sponsor and the archfoe of Washington's drug initiative
sharply disagree over whether it's good medicine, but do agree on one
thing: The measure is far more than just a "medical marijuana" proposal.

Sponsor Robert Killian, a Tacoma doctor who has worked in a hospice for the
terminally ill, says Initiative 685 offers more than the promise of relief
from pain and nausea.

It declares the "war on drugs" is a failure and promotes a medical approach
to drug abuse. "We have never said this is just about medical marijuana"
for victims of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other ailments, Killian told a
forum sponsored by the Capitol City Press Club yesterday.

He said most Americans believe the lawenforcement approach to fighting
drug abuse has utterly failed and that society must turn to treatment and
prevention. "We need to demythologize drugs," he said.

The measure would allow doctors to recommend use of some nowillegal drugs
including marijuana, heroin and LSD if such treatment for particular
ailments is backed by science. It would encourage treatment of drug
abusers, rather than imprisonment. It would create a $6 million treatment
and education program.

But Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who for years has taken an antidrug, rockmusic
assembly program into schools, said the measure could effectively legalize
cocaine, heroin and other drugs to help with ailments as minor as headaches
and insomnia. "This could just as well be called the 'legalizing heroin,
getsoftoncrime initiative,'" Owen said.

He called it dangerous, saying it would set free hundreds of felons who are
behind bars for repeat drugrelated offenses.

And he said even discussing proposals to ease drug laws sends the wrong
message to the nation's youth. "This debate is killing our kids," Owen
said.

The forum, televised statewide by TVW, the state's version of CSpan,
sometimes grew testy and personal as Owen and Killian went at it. Owen
accused proponents of running a misleading campaign to tout an initiative
written and financed by outofstate interests.

Killian accused Owen of lies, exaggerations and sound bites aimed at
scaring voters from taking a dispassionate look at the country's drug
policies.

The measure is on the Nov. 4, 1997 ballot.