State's Medical Marijuana Bill Passes 1st Test
By JENIFER WARREN, Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTOA bill aiming to make it easier for sick
people to buy marijuana for medical use passed its first test
in the state Legislature on Wednesday.

After a hearing featuring passionate testimony on the perils and
health benefits of marijuana, the Senate Health and Human Services
Committee sent the bill onward with a 52 vote.

The bill seeks to guarantee safe and affordable marijuana for the
bill as allowed under Proposition 215, passed by 56% of the voters
in November. It would create a 12member task force to design a
distribution network making marijuana available to those in need.

Now, cancer patients and others seeking relief through
marijuana must grow their own or turn to backalley dealers and
buyers' clubs that have sprouted in several cities. Prices vary wildly,
and the quest for marijuana can be taxing on the ill.

The legislation also would create a Medical Marijuana Research
Center at the University of California and allocate $6 million over
three years for research on the health risks and merits of marijuana.

Scientists testifying Wednesday said such research is vital to
resolve lingering questions about marijuana's effectiveness and how
best to administer it for ailments ranging from glaucoma to cancer
and chronic pain. Such questions were at the heart of the debate
over Proposition 215, with advocates touting medical marijuana as
a proven tonic and opponents disputing its worth.

Dr. Igor Grant, professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, urged
approval of the bill to resolve that disagreement once and for all.
"My concern is that the pyrotechnics of the marijuana debate not
leave behind two unintended victimsthe patients who are suffering
and the truth," Grant said. With more research, "California can lead
the way from opinion to fact," he said.

Sen. John Vasconcellos (DSanta Clara), the bill's author,
echoed that argument, saying his goal is to "clear the air on all the
controversy."

"It's a very simple bill," he said. "The way people are reacting,
you'd think it was the end of Western civilization if a sick person
smokes a joint."

Vasconcellos was referring to the passionate testimony by
opponents who predicted that making medical marijuana available is
the first step down the road to legalizing other drugs. One of those
foes, Art Croney, testified Wednesday that marijuana is "quack
medicine" and a "cruel hoax on the suffering people of California."

"Marijuana is not a medicine," said Croney, a lobbyist for the
Committee on Moral Concerns. "It is a drug that makes people
think they feel better."

Joni Commons, a mother of four from San Jose, acknowledged
that marijuana has indeed made her feel better, dramatically
reducing the nausea associated with the chemotherapy she receives
for breast cancer.

"I was about ready to give up on my treatment because the
quality of life just wasn't there," Commons told the committee.
Now, she can take three small puffs of marijuana and "suddenly the
nausea is gone. You can even eat a little something," she said.

The legislation has been endorsed by a wide variety of groups,
from AIDS Project Los Angeles to the California Nurses Assn. and
the Berkeley City Council. Opponents include the California
Narcotics Officers Assn., the California State Sheriffs Assn. and
Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

A representative for Lungren, who campaigned vigorously
against Proposition 215, testified against the billbut not for the
reasons voiced by other opponents. Senior Assistant Atty. Gen.
John Gordnier said the legislation goes beyond what was permitted
by voters.

Vasconcellos called such criticism "blatantly dishonest," noting
that Lungren had fought Proposition 215 on other grounds from the
start. "First he opposes 215 and now he wants to protect it? the
senator said.

Copyright Los Angeles Times