News (Media Awareness Project) - Has Lungren seen the light? |
| Title: | Has Lungren seen the light? |
| Published On: | 1997-08-26 |
| Source: | Contra Costa Times, 8/26/97, Pg A6 |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-08 12:42:38 |
Source: Contra Costa Times, 8/26/97, Pg A6
Contact: cctletrs@netcom.com
Lungren to join backers of medical marijuana research
By Rich Harris
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO Attorney General Dan Lungren was a vigorous opponent of a
November 1996 ballot measure legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, will
announce his support for legislation establishing a threeyear study of the
drug's medical value.
State Sen. John Vasconcellos, DSanta Clara, said Monday that the
Republican attorney general and others, including the head of the county
district attorneys' association and a former president of the state
narcotics officers' association, would attend a news conference today to
announce agreement to support legislation authorizing the study.
As recently as June, Lungren a candidate for next year's Republican
nomination for governor had been sharply critical of the
legislation. "We read the current version of (Senate Bill) 535 as
being skewed toward the conclusion that marijuana does have medicinal
value," Lungren wrote in a critique of the bill. Lungren's office
confirmed that he will attend the news conference. But spokesman Matt
Ross declined Monday to discuss what had happened to change Lungren's
mind about the bill, except to say that "we got some provisions that
we wanted."
In the earlier critique, Lungren had suggested that more cooperation was
needed between state and federal governments, since marijuana remains a
controlled substance under federal law.
Vasconcellos spokesman Rand Martin also declined to discuss the bill,
including refusing to say whether as in earlier incarnations it would
still create a Medical Marijuana Research Center at a campus of the
University of California.
Voters in November passed Proposition 215 on a vote of 56 percent to 44
percent, or about 4.9 million to 3.9 million votes. Lungren was a leading
opponent of the measure, which legalized the cultivation, possession and
use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Clinton administration drug czar Barry McCaffrey also campaigned against
the measure.
Contact: cctletrs@netcom.com
Lungren to join backers of medical marijuana research
By Rich Harris
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO Attorney General Dan Lungren was a vigorous opponent of a
November 1996 ballot measure legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, will
announce his support for legislation establishing a threeyear study of the
drug's medical value.
State Sen. John Vasconcellos, DSanta Clara, said Monday that the
Republican attorney general and others, including the head of the county
district attorneys' association and a former president of the state
narcotics officers' association, would attend a news conference today to
announce agreement to support legislation authorizing the study.
As recently as June, Lungren a candidate for next year's Republican
nomination for governor had been sharply critical of the
legislation. "We read the current version of (Senate Bill) 535 as
being skewed toward the conclusion that marijuana does have medicinal
value," Lungren wrote in a critique of the bill. Lungren's office
confirmed that he will attend the news conference. But spokesman Matt
Ross declined Monday to discuss what had happened to change Lungren's
mind about the bill, except to say that "we got some provisions that
we wanted."
In the earlier critique, Lungren had suggested that more cooperation was
needed between state and federal governments, since marijuana remains a
controlled substance under federal law.
Vasconcellos spokesman Rand Martin also declined to discuss the bill,
including refusing to say whether as in earlier incarnations it would
still create a Medical Marijuana Research Center at a campus of the
University of California.
Voters in November passed Proposition 215 on a vote of 56 percent to 44
percent, or about 4.9 million to 3.9 million votes. Lungren was a leading
opponent of the measure, which legalized the cultivation, possession and
use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Clinton administration drug czar Barry McCaffrey also campaigned against
the measure.
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