Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2004 Hearst Communications Inc. Page: A-1 - Front Page Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer MEDICAL POT LAW GAINS ACCEPTANCE Prop. 215 Polls Better Now Than When It Passed Californians are higher than ever on medical marijuana. Proposition 215, the state's pioneering initiative that made it legal for doctors to recommend pot to patients, has gained significant support across all segments of California's population since voters approved it in 1996, according to a Field poll released today. The survey of 500 registered voters in the state found that 74 percent now favor legal protections for patients who use marijuana to cope with illnesses, compared with 56 percent who approved it on the ballot. And, the poll shows, support for Prop. 215 comes from all political, ideological and age groups. Democrats favor Prop. 215 by more than 5-1 and Republicans by nearly 2-1. Conservatives are 53 percent in favor, middle-of-the-roaders 78 percent and liberals 92 percent. All age categories back the measure by more than 3-1 except those 65 and over, who were 59 percent in favor. In another finding, the poll found that 50 percent of those surveyed agree that using marijuana is no more dangerous than using alcohol. That's a shift from 44 percent who held that position in 1983 and 16 percent who believed it when the question was first asked in 1969. Legalization of marijuana for general use is still opposed by a solid majority, 56 to 39 percent. "I think people are realizing that (marijuana) is a medicine, and we all get sick in our lifetimes," Prop. 215 author Dennis Peron said Thursday when told of the poll results. "Everybody knows someone with cancer. If one person is easing their nausea, feeling better with marijuana, that resonates with others. ... These people are not strangers. They're not hippies and drug addicts. They're regular people." Prop. 215's chief antagonist has been the federal government, which has fought its implementation with raids and shutdowns of pot clubs, and by prosecuting suppliers and growers. Federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal and dangerous drug with no legitimate medical use. Richard Meyer, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco, said the poll reflects "the success the marijuana lobby is having in deceiving the public by distorting all the facts." "At the DEA, we feel that the public needs to be protected from marijuana and drug dealers," Meyer said. Prop. 215 allows Californians to grow and use marijuana if their doctor has recommended it to treat a medical condition. The chief uses are to relieve pain and side effects from therapies for cancer and AIDS, but the measure does not limit the illnesses for which the drug can be used. Eight other states have followed California in passing their own medical marijuana laws. Federal opposition to Prop. 215, in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, has restricted the scope of the measure, with courts generally deferring to the absolute federal ban on marijuana. But last month a federal appeals court carved out an exception for individual users of medical marijuana who grow their own pot or obtain it for free from within the state. The court said enforcement of the federal ban against those patients would exceed the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The Bush administration is expected to appeal. Jonathan Hayes, whose responses were included in the Field Poll, said Thursday that the government's war on marijuana in general, and medical pot in particular, is "a ridiculous waste of taxpayers' money." "Our jails are filled with law-abiding citizens who smoke a little marijuana," said Hayes, 60, a Mountain View resident and self-described conservative. "People who are ill should be able to smoke a little weed. .. Prohibition didn't work in the '20s either." "It never was a problem until they made it illegal" about a century ago, said another poll respondent, Gloria Shinn, 74, a retired nurse from San Francisco. "Now it's forbidden and they overuse it because it is. I don't think children should be given it, but if there's a (medical) need for it, it should be available." A respondent who opposes Prop. 215 said she doesn't object to medical use of marijuana if it is regulated properly. "They need to handle it like other strong medication, through pharmacies, " said Marinda Thomas, 39, a dental hygienist from Sonoma County. She said the state law is open to abuse because marijuana is supplied by pot clubs and less-formal sources. The poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 5-13 among randomly chosen registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. The responses underscore the obstacles faced by federal prosecutors in trying medical marijuana cases before pro-Prop. 215 California juries. A San Francisco federal jury convicted prominent marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal of felony cultivation charges last January, but only after a federal judge barred jurors from hearing that Rosenthal was growing pot for medical purposes. When jurors learned after the trial about the excluded evidence, a majority renounced their verdict and called for leniency. A federal judge then granted Rosenthal probation on a charge that normally requires a five-year prison sentence. The government has appealed the sentence, and Rosenthal has appealed his conviction. CHART 1: Field Poll / Marijuana Support for California's medical marijuana law, Prop. 215, is significantly higher today than in 1996, when 56 percent of voters approved the measure. Favor: 74% Oppose: 24% No opinion: 2% Source - Field Research Corp. CHART 2: Field Poll / Medical marijuana Do you favor or oppose implementation of Proposition 215, to allow forthe medical use of marijuana in California? By subgroup (Among likely registered voters) Favor Oppose opinion PARTY Democrats 83% 16 1 Republicans 63% 33 4 Non-partisans/others 73% 27 POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Conservative 53% 44 3 Middle-of-the-road 78% 21 1 Liberal 92% 6 2 AGE 18-29 76% 24 * 30-39 79% 19 2 40-49 77% 21 2 50-64 77% 22 1 65 or older 59% 39 2 * Less than 1/2 of 1%. CHART 3: Legalization of marijuana Marijuana should be legalized and sold like alcohol or tobacco, so it can be taxed to generate needed revenue for the state. 2004 Agree: 39% Disagree: 56% No opinion: 5% . 1983 Agree: 35% Disagree: 64% No opinion: 1% Results based on telephone survey Jan. 5-13 in English and Spanish from a random sample of 500 registered California voters. The sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Source - Field Research Corp. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake