CALIFORNIA COLLAGE

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High Times for Proponents of Legalizing Pot

By Sarah Ferguson

Date: 11-18-96

Passage of initiatives allowing medical use of marijuana has sent predictable waves of anxiety through the law enforcement community -- and waves of exultation through the ranks of those who support legalization. But the campaigns themselves reveal that support for these measures do not necessarily fall along the expected lines. PNS correspondent Sarah Ferguson, a New York-based freelance writer, has written on drug policies for the Village Voice, High Times and Esquire.

SAN FRANCISCO -- As state and federal officials bemoan the "legal chaos" unleashed by the passage of medical marijuana initiatives in California and Arizona, ecstatic and emboldened activists around the country are preparing to expand upon the victory.

"This is the turning of the tide, the beginning of a wave of love that's going to sweep the country," exults Dennis Peron, who initiated California's Proposition 215. In Santa Monica, the suit-and-tie leaders of Californians for Medical Rights (CMR) were more muted, but no less expansive. "It shows the public is way ahead of the politicians in the effort to find rational solutions to drug policy," says CMR director Bill Zimmerman, the veteran political consultant hired by international financier George Soros to run the ballot drive.

In fact, the result in California, together with the overwhelming success of Arizona's Proposition 200, which not only medicalizes marijuana but mandates treatment instead of prison for non-violent drug offenders, signals a profound challenge to federal drug policy.

The challenge is all the stronger in that it has attracted support from forces traditionally thought hostile to legalization. "I think people want a lot more latitude with the (medical) use of prohibited drugs," says Richard Brookhiser, senior editor of the neo-conservative flagship National Review. "The politicians will have to pick up on this." Brookhiser testified earlier this year before a congressional committee about his use of marijuana to ease the nausea he felt during chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer.

Peron, a Vietnam Vet turned gay and civil rights activist, has been campaigning for pot legalization since the 1970s. But this time the measure had the backing of business leaders like Soros, Laurence Rockefeller and Men's Wearhouse CEO George Zimmer, who contributed cash ($1.8 million) along with mainstream credibility.

Not surprisingly, a high proportion of Democratic baby boomers supported Proposition 215. But 34 percent of Republican voters and 29 percent of conservative voters also voted yes, according to the exit polls.

Similarly, Arizona's Proposition 200 campaign was spearheaded by Dr. John Sperling, president of the University of Phoenix, and John Norton, an agrobusinessman and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture in the Reagan Administration. It passed by a 2-to-1 margin, thanks largely to the support of archetypal conservative Barry Goldwater and former (GOP) Senator Dennis DeConcini who stumped for the initiative in commercials.

Campaign coordinator Sam Vagenas, comparing the response to term limits, predicts a "third wave" of drug policy reform will sweep the nation. "This is an effort by the public to stop the hysteria and look at the drug issue in a sober way."

Since 1978, 34 states have passed measures endorsing medicinal access to marijuana, but these have had little effect because federal drug statutes prohibit doctors from prescribing marijuana and list the drug among dangerous and addictive substances including heroin and amphetamines.

The California measure seeks to circumvent the federal ban by authorizing doctors to "recommend" marijuana to their patients and allows patients and caregivers to grow a supply at home. It offers the broadest definition yet of medical use, including treatment of "cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief." Arizona's Proposition 200 is more restrictive: doctors must obtain a second opinion and provide scientific proof before prescribing marijuana.

Federal officials and drug control advocates are clearly unnerved. Drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey, vowing to enforce federal laws against possession and cultivation, has already conferred with officials from California and Arizona. Last week, members of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America met in Washington to discuss what they feel could be a nationwide trend toward legalization.

Despite the fears of anti-drug forces, however, polls show that Americans understand the distinction between medical and recreational uses: half of those who voted for Prop. 215 and over two-thirds of Arizona supporters of Prop. 200 said they were opposed to legalizing pot.

If it will not compromise on the medical issue, the Clinton Administration risks fueling the public's growing cynicism over drug policies -- a key factor behind these state initiatives.

Advocates say the successes of Propositions 215 and 200 will compel state legislators to introduce more effective bills to provide medical access. Campaigns are already underway in Florida and Ohio.

But some are cautious. "The next step is clearly not one of broader marijuana decriminalization. There isn't support for it," says Ethan Nadelman of the Lindesmith Foundation, a drug policy research institute based in New York. Nadelman does think states will move toward "more rational drug policies, such as lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, or, following Arizona's lead, pulling back on some of the harsher laws."