Pubdate: Wed, 20 Mar 2002
Source: Rutland Herald (VT)
Section: Front Page
Copyright: 2002 Rutland Herald
Contact:  http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892
Author: Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau

MARIJUANA BILL DEBATED IN SENATE

MONTPELIER - The sleeper issue of the session may find permanent slumber in 
the Senate if opponents of medicinal marijuana, including Gov. Howard Dean, 
get their way.

A bill allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes with a 
physician's consent passed through the Republican-controlled House last 
week. But its fate in the Democratic Senate is much less certain.

Dean strongly opposes the bill. He has called it a move to circumvent the 
federal regulatory process and legalize marijuana. The Democratic governor 
has been evasive about whether he'd veto the bill if it makes its way to 
his desk.

When asked at a recent news conference if he'd be put in a spot to veto it 
this summer in between traveling around the country testing the waters for 
a possible presidential run, Dean suggested he would try to avert such a 
scenario.

"There are all kinds of interesting spots out there," he said. "Usually, 
you try to anticipate them ahead of time, and avoid those problems, which 
is what I anticipate we will do this time."

But with some leading Democrats in the Senate supporting the bill, or at 
least the concept of medicinal marijuana, the debate is becoming one of the 
most anticipated this session.

"It's going to be considered like any other bill," Senate President Pro Tem 
Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said Tuesday. "I support it."

Shumlin said he does have some questions about the House bill, including 
the quantities people are allowed to possess. But he suggested those issues 
would be aired in the debate.

"I'm sending it to the Health and Welfare Committee, where it will get a 
clear hearing," he said, adding again, "I support it."

If it passes that committee, it would likely move to the Judiciary Committee.

And it was endorsed again Tuesday by another key Democratic senator. "I 
support it, conceptually," said Sen. Nancy Chard, D-Windham, chairwoman of 
the Health and Welfare Committee.

Chard said the governor had recently reached out to her through his staff. 
"They made it clear he strongly opposes it," she said.

Still, she said she planned to give the bill a hearing as long as time permits.

"My priorities all year have been pharmacy, Medicaid and health insurance; 
that hasnit changed," she said. "This is not something that will make me 
drop everything ... but I will give the bill a fair hearing."

Specifically, Chard said she hopes to hear more from the medical community.

"My sense of what happened in the House was there may not have been a lot 
of testimony on the medical side," she said. "It is certainly my desire to 
take that testimony."

Pain Relief Is Aim

The bill passed the House after emotional debate. It had broad support from 
Democrats, Republicans and Progressives. The measure allows seriously ill 
people to obtain a physician's certificate to use marijuana to alleviate 
pain, nausea and other symptoms associated with diseases such as cancer, 
multiple sclerosis and AIDS.

The bill limits the amount a patient or caregiver can possess to three 
mature plants, four immature plants or 3 ounces of marijuana. It also 
permits those authorized patients or caregivers to grow the plant, as long 
as they do it in a secure, indoor location.

Opponents point out that the bill flies in the face of federal law, and 
sends a dangerous message to young people about drug use. They point to 
existing drugs to ease pain, including Marinol, a pill that contains THC, 
an active ingredient in marijuana.

Supporters counter that the Vermont bill is the most restrictive marijuana 
measure of the eight states that already have such laws, in part by setting 
up a database with the state Department of Public Safety so police can 
confirm the identities of authorized patients and caregivers. It also 
limits caregivers to serving only one patient so they cannot possess more 
than minimum amount allowed in the bill.

Some See Problems

As is the case in the House, positions on this issue do not follow party lines.

"We've got enough problems with drugs that are legal in this country, let 
alone those that are currently illegal," said Sen. Richard Sears, 
D-Bennington, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

"I want more assurance that it's being properly regulated."

Sen. Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille, chairwoman of the Appropriations 
Committee, said she opposed the bill.

"I think there are a lot of problems with it," she said."I do have concerns 
about the mixed messages it sends to young people."

Several senators on the Health and Welfare Committee interviewed Tuesday 
supported taking the House bill up and some went further to generally 
endorse the concept.

"Without looking at the details of the bill, I believe in its basic 
premise," said Sen. John Campbell, D-Windsor, who sits on both the 
Judiciary and Health and Welfare committees.

"I don't want to kill the bill before a hearing," said Sen. Virginia Lyons, 
D-Chittenden, vice chairwoman of the Health and Welfare Committee. "I think 
it's worth consideration."

Sen. William Doyle, R-Washington, a member of the committee, said he had an 
open mind on the issue. "I'm going to see what they have to say," he said.

Details, Details

Others offered thin support for the concept, but needed answers to 
lingering questions about the minutiae of the proposal, such as how 
patients or caregivers obtain the drug or the seeds if they wish to grow it.

"I'm not opposed to the concept. We have a law on the books now," said 
Minority Leader Sen. John Bloomer, R-Rutland, a member of the Judiciary 
Committee. "It does depend on how it's restricted."

The Legislature in 1981 passed a law allowing marijuana to be used for 
medicinal purposes, but the rules governing the law were never drafted so 
it has been an idle statute.

Lt. Gov. Douglas Racine, the president of the Senate and a Democrat, said 
he was reserving judgment until the bill made its way through the committee 
process.

"I have real concerns about the bill as it passed the House. It would need 
to be tightened up a lot," he said. "At the same time, I am sympathetic to 
the folks suffering from AIDS and other diseases. ...There is a way I would 
support it, but I need to know a whole lot more than I do about it right now."
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