March 18, 1998

By Kevin Smith

 ROGAN NOW BACKS RESOLUTION AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Congressman says his position is no different than when he was an assembylman and favored limited use.

GLENDALE ~ Congressman James Rogan says he will back a resolution that opposes the use of marijuana for medical purposes, despite having supported the idea as a state assemblyman. The first-term Republican, whose 27^th Congressional District includes Glendale, nonetheless said he is taking the same position he took in the Assembly.

House Resolution 372 expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that marijuana "is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medicinal use."

Resolutions carry no legal weight, but are often crafted to gauge support for legislation on issues.

The resolution has already been approved by the House Subcommittee on Crime and is expected to be brought to the floor for a full House vote, possibly next week. Rogan, elected to the 43^rd Assembly District eat in 1994, served through 1996.

"I supported (medical use of marijuana) in the Assembly, but only in limited circumstances of a physician being able to prescribe marijuana for terminal patients," he said.

He does not support Proposition 215, approved by California voters in 1996, because it is too broad in scope, Rogan said.

"It allows any medical practitioner to use it," he said. "And that could mean an acupuncturist or ... a witch doctor. And not all of the patients are terminal cases."

In September 1995, Rogan supported Assembly Bill 1529. The measure, which ultimately failed, was intended to provide a criminal defense for personal possession of marijuana for medical purposes, but only when approved in writing by a licensed physician for patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Rogan’s support for limited use of marijuana was fueled by personal experience.

In 1980, Rogan’s cousin was diagnosed with cancer and given just six months to live.

Under his doctor’s advice, he began using marijuana to gain weight and combat the nausea brought on by chemotherapy treatments. Rogan believes his cousin’s use of marijuana helped him live for another 10 years.

"It had everything to do with him being able to get out of bed, eat, go to work and be productive for another decade," Rogan said, according to a transcript of his remarks in front of the Committee on the Judiciary.

Pasadena Democrat Barry Gordon, who is running for Rogan’s seat, agreed with Rogan that Proposition 215 was too broad. But, he said, the House resolution Rogan plans to support is every bit as vague as Proposition 215.

"That seems to close the door pretty solidly to me" on using marijuana for medicinal use, he said. "And it’s contrary to what the voters expressed in 1996."

Since its passage, the controversial initiative has faced numerous legal challenges. Many establishments that have tried to sell marijuana for medical purposes have been shut down.

"Fifty-six percent of the voters approved it as an effective healing methodology. The CNA believes the voters’ desire to implement Proposition 215 must be respected."

Sgt. Rick Young, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, said some who have been arrested in Glendale for possession of marijuana have claimed they needed the drug for medical reasons. But none has been able to prove it and no legal challenges have arisen in Glendale, he said.

"This proposition (215) fooled a lot of people," he said. "It played on the sympathy of the terminally ill."

Young said people who really need the drug can take Marinol, a marijuana derivative that comes in the form of a pill and is available through a prescription.

Glendale News-Press Leader

Editorial

FAX: 818-241-1975

Dan Bolton, Executive Editor, 425 W Broadway #30, Glendale, CA 91204

March 25, 1998

IN FAVOR OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

If your cancer-stricken cousin can’t keep any food down because of the nausea from chemotherapy, shouldn’t he be able to use, with a doctor’s prescription, anything that might help him?

If your daughter has AIDS, and can’t keep any food down because of reaction to her medications, shouldn’t she be able to use, with a doctor’s prescription, anything that might help her? If your husband’s sight is deteriorating because of glaucoma, shouldn’t he be able to use, with a doctor’s prescription, anything that might help him?

If your best friend has multiple sclerosis and can’t control her muscle spasms, shouldn’t she be able to use, with a doctor’s prescription, anything that might help her?

The answer seems inarguable to us, and that’s why we’re in favor of the tightly controlled use of marijuana for medical purposes. In fact, the first example cited above is from the real life experience of Congressman James Rogan. Rogan, the ascendant Republican who represents Glendale, Burbank and the foothills, tells just such a story, of a cousin wasting away and given six months to live, who ~ following his doctor’s advice to seek and use street marijuana ~ survived 10 years.

With that family background, Rogan, as a state assemblyman, was in favor of a tightly crafted bill that would have allowed personal possession of marijuana for medical purposes. Now, however, as a congressman, he’s said he supports a nonbinding House resolution stating the House "is unequivocally opposed to legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes."

Unequivocally opposed?

Mr. Congressman, we know you haven’t forgotten your cousin, and hope it’s not politics that prompts you to conssider putting your name to something just because it plays in Peoria ~ or is that Pasadena? ~ and can be rationalized away later because it’s not binding.

The fact is, medical marijuana can raise the quality of life for many, if not outright save the lives of some. For the national body of the people’s elected representatives to "unequivocally oppose" such use is unconscionable.