February 19, 1998

Ballot proposal would allow pot for medical use. A Portland doctor plans to file an initiative petition to legalize marijuana for pain control .

By Gail Kinsey Hill of The Oregonian staff

SALEM -- An Oregon doctor, backed by the deep pockets of Americans for Medical Rights, on Wednesday announced plans for an initiative campaign to legalize the medical use of marijuana. (Ed. note: The bias of The Oregonian reporting begins in the first sentence.)

Portland internist Rick Bayer said he would file an initiative petition this week that would allow patients suffering from illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and glaucoma to use marijuana to try to relieve their pain.

Bayer said he expects success because "I'd like to think Oregonians are deeply concerned about dying and suffering patients."

"No medical association or the Federal Drug Administration or anyone has said there is any medical value whatsoever to the use of marijuana," Campbell said. "We look at this (initiative) as the first step toward the total legalization of drugs." (Ed. note: While the Oregonian will make reference to AMR’s "deep-pockets," it will not bother to cite any evidence to contradict this patently false statement. Has the Oregonian examined the books of AMR but never read the New England Journal of Medicine?)

Bayer filed with the state Elections Division to form a political action committee, Oregonians for Medical Rights, that will be the campaign's fund-raising arm. He is aiming for the November ballot.

Stormy Ray, an Ontario resident crippled by multiple sclerosis, joined Bayer at a news conference at the Capitol. They will be the initiative's chief petitioners.

"Medical marijuana may be the only medicine that can give me a fighting chance," said Ray, who uses a wheelchair.

Ray would not say whether she uses marijuana, but she said a synthetic version of the drug, Marinol, significantly eased her pain until her body built up a tolerance.

Marijuana is effective in controlling the muscle spasms symptomatic of multiple sclerosis, Bayer said. Marijuana also works well for patients suffering from breast, lung and prostate cancer, he said.

Takes cue from California

Bayer said he began drafting the initiative after he was contacted by Americans for Medical Rights, a Santa Monica, Calif., group behind Proposition 215, approved by California voters in 1996. Proposition 215 permits the medical use of marijuana. It's the only law of its kind in the nation.

Americans for Medical Rights has gone national -- during the California effort, supporters were known as Californians for Medical Rights -- and is aiding initiative drives in Colorado, Maine and Alaska as well as Oregon.

The organization targeted states where election laws allow people to use initiatives and where residents might be responsive to such a request.

"Oregon is a natural place to look," said Dave Fratello, communications director for Americans for Medical Rights. "We guessed inherently there might be support there."

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are expected to accompany that guess, primarily from three men: international financier George Soros, Ohio insurance executive Peter Lewis and University of Phoenix founder John Sperling.

Soros and Lewis contributed heavily to the California campaign, and Sperling backed a similar effort in Arizona. Voters approved the Arizona initiative in 1996, then legislators gutted it in 1997.

The three men have teamed up to support Americans for Medical Rights and the organization's nationwide efforts, Fratello said.

Fratello said he isn't sure how much money will be channeled into Oregon, but he expects about $100,000 will go toward a signature-gathering campaign. As much as $500,000 might go into the general-election campaign, he said.

To qualify for the ballot, petitioners must gather 73,261 valid signatures by July 2.

The money won't come without strings. Fratello said Oregon and other states would have to come up with some level of matching money, probably a 50-50 split.

Opponents face being outspent

If California offers any lessons, opposition could come from established medical associations and law enforcement organizations. The California Medical Association opposed Proposition 215, for example.

The Oregon Medical Association hasn't taken a position on the issue but probably will oppose it, said James Kronenberg, associate executive director.

Whatever the opposition, it can expect to be outspent by a wide margin. In California, initiative supporters spent $1.9 million, Fratello said. The opposition spent $40,000.

Campbell and the police association recently established a political action committee, Oregonians Against Dangerous Drugs, to raise election cash.

Much of the money will go to support a referendum asking voters whether the state should recriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. The 1997 Legislature approved a recriminalization bill, but a referendum financed partly by Soros, Sperling and Lewis, sent the issue to the November ballot. House Bill 3643 would have raised the penalty for possession of less than 1 ounce from a violation to a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and maximum jail time of 30 days. (Ed. note: The Oregonian’s lying to its readers about this did not prevent the people from getting up a petition and blocking recrim.)

Washington measure different

If the medical-use marijuana proposal qualifies for the ballot, Campbell said the police chiefs' committee would be used to raise money to oppose it.

Campbell said the November 1997 defeat of a similar medical-use initiative in Washington gives him hope that he can bring down the Oregon proposal.

The Washington proposal differed significantly from the Oregon initiative, however. In addition to marijuana, it would have legalized the medical use of heroin, LSD, peyote and other drugs prohibited by federal law.

The Oregon initiative would deal exclusively with marijuana. It would allow patients, with written permission from their doctors, to obtain registry cards from the state Health Division. The cards would allow them to possess as much as an ounce of marijuana and to grow for medical purposes as many as three mature marijuana plants.