New medicinal marijuana bill hits Senate
by D. Eric Jones

January 15, 1998 - The Olympian - olympia@olywa.net

Olympia, WA -- Only two months after a broad proposal to legalize several drugs for medical use was trounced by Washington voters, a bill to allow physician-advised marijuana has emerged in the state Senate.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl, D-Seattle, is proposing Senate Bill 6271, a measure that would give marijuana users and doctors who advise its medical use immunity from state prosecution.

"This will protect the physician and the patient in the state of Washington," said Rob Killian, a Tacoma physician who supports the measure.

Killian had promoted Initiative 685, which included provisions to legalize medicinal use of marijuana, heroin and other drugs, as well as to require that some drug offenders ,were sent to treatment instead of prison.

Voters rejected I-685 by a 3-to-2 ratio.

By contrast, the new bill focuses on medical issues, restricting marijuana use to rare circumstances. Public use would be prohibited, and any use would be at the patient's expense.

Patients who have the name and telephone number of a physician who advised them to use marijuana would be immune to state prosecution under the bill.

And insurers would not have to reimburse users for the cost of the drug.

But medical users of marijuana still could be charged with possession of marijuana under federal drug laws. However, Kohl said, federal prosecutors have not pursued such charges in California or Arizona, which have much broader marijuana-use laws than her bill proposes.

Killian said marijuana could help people suffering the effects of HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma and cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Despite critics' claims of carcinogenic effects from smoking marijuana, Kohl said, providing access to the drug still is vital.

"When we're talking about people who are in grave situations or who are dying, long-term effects of smoking may not be relevant," Kohl said.

She said she did not support I-685, calling it "flawed."

An adamant opponent of I-685, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, said he also does not support the new bill.

However, Owen said, he wants to show compassion to patients who are terminally ill or in extreme pain. He said he might submit his proposed changes to Kohl's office as early as next week.

"It's still way too broad and it has too much of a sense of legalization to it," Owen said. "It would be a nightmare for law enforcement."

Owen also questioned whether residents truly support medical use of marijuana, citing a long trend of misinformation by proponents.

Marijuana is not a miracle drug and can do more harm than good for many patients, Owen said.

Patients might be unaware of health risks associated with smoking marijuana, such as research indicating an increased risk of AIDS patients contracting bacterial pneumonia, he said.

"The research says there's a lot more questions that need to be addressed before it should be approved," Owen said. "(And) no research supports using marijuana as a so-called medicine."

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