Pubdate: Tue, 05 Oct 1999 Source: Plain Dealer, The (OH) Copyright: 1999 The Plain Dealer Contact: 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114 Website: http://www.cleveland.com/news/ Forum: http://forums.cleveland.com/index.html Author: Tom Diemer, Plain Dealer Bureau VOINOVICH TRIES TO BLOCK D.C. MARIJUANA LAW WASHINGTON - Sen. George V. Voinovich, the Senate's watchdog for Washington, D.C., affairs, said yesterday he would try to block a new Washington city law allowing the medical use of marijuana. The law, permitting marijuana use as a pain reliever with the oral or written recommendation of a doctor, was approved by 69 percent of Washington voters last year, but has not yet taken effect. Voinovich, chairman of the Governmental Affairs subcommittee on the District of Columbia, said the "loose wording of the initiative" would amount to "de facto legalization" and present an enforcement nightmare for police. He introduced a resolution yesterday to keep it from "going forward." "In the simplest of terms, illegal drug use is wrong," said Voinovich, an Ohio Republican, who has an apartment in Washington. "The District government and the United States government should never condone it, regardless of the professed purpose." President Clinton last week vetoed the District's budget as approved by the Republican-ruled Congress, in part because it overturned the medical marijuana law and also barred needle exchange programs for drug addicts. With the spending bill in limbo, Voinovich offered his resolution as an alternative way of making sure Washington does not move ahead with medical marijuana, which could be grown or cultivated by up to four caregivers for use by an ill person, including those suffering from AIDS. Without a doctor's prescription, marijuana use would continue to be illegal in the District of Columbia. As the nation's only federal city, Washington has limited self rule, but is dependent on Capitol Hill for a large portion of its budget - and is thus subject to some control by Congress over its policymaking. The Senate and House can even overturn existing laws, although lawmakers rarely use that power. Voinovich, if he carries through with his resolution, would stop the medical marijuana law in its tracks, despite its approval by more than two-thirds of those who voted in the District's election last year. Congress is so opposed to the notion that it succeeded in keeping the ballots from the initiative sealed for almost a year, until a federal judge ordered them opened and tallied last month. Clinton's recent veto of the spending bill - which otherwise would have killed the D.C. medical marijuana initiative - confused the issue, Voinovich said, since the president's own National Drug Control Policy Office opposes such laws. Voinovich said he agreed with one of Clinton's deputy drug administrators "that once society accepts that it's all right for individuals to smoke marijuana for "medical purposes,' we will start on the path towards greater social acceptance and use of marijuana, which experts agree will lead to the use of harder drugs." Six states have similar laws, not subject to congressional oversight or interference. Ohio does not have a medical law on drug use, but considers possession of small amounts of pot to be only a minor misdemeanor. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake