Gates Leading Fight Against Therapeutical-Marijuana Initiative

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi kicked off a statewide fight Tuesday against a ballot measure to allow cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, calling the measure a thinly veiled ploy to legalize the drug.

At a Capitol news conference, Gates announced formation of “Citizens for a Drug-Free California” and immediately went on the offensive.

“This initiative is so irresponsible and poorly written that even children could be permitted to legally grow and smoke marijuana over the objections of their parents,” Gates said, adding that the measure’s backers are “shamelessly exploiting the public’s compassion for AIDS patients, cancer patients and glaucoma sufferers” to legalize widespread use of pot.

Backers of the initiative countered that Gates and other foes are badly interpreting the initiative, which allows a patient to cultivate and use marijuana but only with a physician’s approval.

“They are going to try to do the whole ‘reefer madness’ campaign,” said Steve Hopcraft, communications consultant for initiative backers. “But it’s not going to work. This initiative is very, very narrow.”

Hopcraft called contentions that the initiative would allow children or anyone else to cultivate pot “ridiculous.”

“You have to be under a doctor’s care, a doctor has to prescribe it for you,” he said. “You would not be shielded from any of the criminal penalties.”

Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), an initiative backer, issued a statement accusing Gates and the rest of “cynically employing conspiracy theory because they have no legitimate grounds to oppose the bill on its merits.”

The measure qualified for the November ballot last month with more than 775,000 signatures of state voters. The measure is backed by a loose-knit group that includes the San Francisco-based Cannabis Buyers Club and Vasconcellos, who sponsored a similar bill that was vetoed last year by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Gates and other foes say there is no need for legalizing marijuana cultivation and use for patients because it already is available in a prescription oral form called Marinol. Several physicians at the news conference argued that Marinol and other drugs can be more effectively regulated by dosage and don’t pose addiction problems or other health worries.

“This has inherent dangers, even where it may do some good,” said Los Angeles physician Michael Meyers. “This is a bad law and it will lead to bad medicine.”

Capizzi also criticized the vagueness of the provisions for obtaining a physician’s recommendation.

“Every case involving cultivation and possession of marijuana will be a test case,” he said. “It will take a lot of litigation to determine what is a recommendation.”

Supporters of the initiative say Marinol is far more expensive than ordinary marijuana, and that the oral medication frequently has severe side effects such as nausea and vomiting that many AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other patients do not suffer when smoking marijuana.

Releasing statements prepared for their own campaign kickoff news conference set for today, supporters of the ballot measure denied their measure would legalize marijuana for everyone and cited medical studies about its effectiveness in relieving pain.

“This proposition is my gift to my husband, who died last year,” said Anna Boyce, a 67-year-old Orange County nurse, in a statement describing her husband’s struggle with lung cancer.

“Marijuana was the one medication that eased his intense pain through chemotherapy. But to get marijuana to ease the pain, we had to break the law. No doctor could legally prescribe this medication, even though morphine and other more powerful drugs are perfectly legal,” she said.

“Arrests of persons caught with marijuana will continue as they do today,” said Bill Zimmerman, campaign manager for the initiative. “The difference will be that patients who are arrested and have their doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana will have a legal defense against marijuana charges.”

“The Medical Marijuana Initiative will protect doctors and patients from being prosecuted under marijuana laws as long as it is used to relieve pain caused by serious health conditions,” he said.