Initiative on Medical Use of Marijuana Pits Unlikely Foes

One is the sheriff of Orange County, the most vocal law-and-order man in California’s most conservative of counties. The other is a graying widow from Mission Viejo who lives five minutes up the freeway from the sheriff.

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and Anna Boyce might seem unlikely foes. But the 6-foot-4 sheriff and the 5-foot-1 nurse have squared off as leaders of opposing camps in the fight over Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative on the November ballot.

Boyce is a leading proponent of the ballot measure, which would allow Californians to grow and smoke pot for medical purposes if recommended by a doctor. She talks of seeing the drug work with her late husband, a straight-arrow former Elks Club member, who turned to cannabis to ease the nausea caused by chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Gates, statewide chairman of a broad coalition of police and others fighting the measure, sees a more ominous side to the initiative. He characterizes Proposition 215 as a “back door” effort to decriminalize pot.

“We see this purely as a legalization effort,” Gates said. “They want a crack in the door. Once marijuana is there, then why not decriminalize heroin or whatever else?”

Along with a similar measure on the ballot in Arizona, the groundbreaking proposition is being watched nationwide. President Clinton’s drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, has come out in opposition to Proposition 215, as has GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole.

The measure has drawn interest almost more for who supports it than the fundamental policy shift it proposes for the use of pot.

George Soros, a billionaire New York financier best known for his hundreds of millions in gifts to shore up democracy in the former Soviet bloc, is the biggest bankroller of Proposition 215, pumping $350,000 into the campaign.

Opponents have made much of Soros’ dogged criticism of the long-running war on drugs and his suggestion that federal anti-drug money be devoted more to treatment of addicts and less toward putting them behind bars.

Foes also have gleefully turned the spotlight on the Aug. 4 raid by state narcotics agents of the Cannabis Buyers’ Club, a San Francisco pot emporium that openly sold marijuana to 12,000 clients on the grounds of medical need.

Backers of Proposition 215 have criticized the raid as politically motivated, but have tried to distance themselves from Dennis Peron, the buyer’s club guru and an early booster of Proposition 215. Proponents also suggest that the raid underscores a need for their initiative, lest more buyer’s clubs sprout.

While scores of studies have been performed on the medicinal effects of marijuana, definitive proof of its benefits remains elusive.

Supporters say controlled clinical trials that would provide irrefutable evidence have been sidetracked by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and federal politics.

Even physicians opposed to the measure see a need. The California Medical Assn., which represents 34,000 physicians in the state, came out against Proposition 215 earlier this month, but also made a pointed plea for a foolproof study to end decades of medical debate.

“It’s time the federal government, and organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, did the right thing by studying the medical uses of marijuana to see if it works and for what patients,” said Dr. Jack E. McCleary, president. If those studies proved marijuana to be effective, McCleary said, the CMA would support efforts to expedite the drug’s use in prescription form.

The proposition’s supporters say marijuana eases the wasting effects of AIDS and cancer by easing nausea. They say it helps those on chemotherapy stay the course instead of joining the one-third that drop out because of the side effects. They also say it relieves eye pressure caused by glaucoma and can provide pain relief and medical benefits for other illnesses.

It is impossible, they argue, to ignore anecdotal evidence from the sick who have enjoyed relief because of marijuana.

Consider the story of Anna Boyce.

Boyce, 67, first came to the medical marijuana movement after the arrest of a prominent attorney in her hometown of Mission Viejo who used pot to alleviate symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Spurred by what she considered a gross injustice, Boyce began a push in 1994 to change state law, lobbying Sacramento lawmakers.

“Opponents say that marijuana is addictive, that it harms the immune system of the very ill,” Boyce said. “I’m sorry, but that doesn’t matter. These are dying people. It’s insane not to give them something that helps.”

For two straight years, Boyce and her allies pushed medical marijuana bills through the Legislature with bipartisan support, only to see them vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson. Those rejections prompted the ballot measure.

Her urgency grew when Boyce’s husband, John, fell ill with lung cancer a few months after she began her fight for medical marijuana. He was given at most six months to live. For the first three months of chemotherapy he couldn’t hold anything down, she recalled, losing more than 30 pounds and howling at the indignity of his illness.

He never bothered trying Marinol, a cannabis derivative available in pill form. Medical marijuana boosters dismiss Marinol as a poor substitute, saying it is difficult for the sick to hold down, can cause blackouts and is prohibitively expensive, costing up to $30,000 annually.

An occupational health nurse, Boyce urged her husband to try marijuana. He balked because of the legal ramifications. “I had to convince him,” she recalled, “that this was much more important than the law.”

He relented, smoking a few puffs after each round of chemotherapy. The results were positive, Boyce said. His weight and his mood improved.

Her husband died on Sept. 21, 1995, but Boyce believes marijuana helped give him six extra months of life.

Now, as one of three lead proponents listed on the ballot measure, Boyce is appearing at press conferences and speaking engagements to rally support.

“Anna proves this issue is about fairly normal people,” said Rand Martin, chief of staff for Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), author of a medical marijuana bill. “It’s not about wackos and drug dealers. It’s about normal people trying to make the final days for someone they love as tolerable, as free of pain as they can.”

Foes like Gates are not unsympathetic, but suggest that Boyce and others who have suffered are being used as pawns by drug legalization advocates.

“Of all the people behind this, Anna Boyce seems to be sincere in what she’s trying to do,” said Stu Mollrich, campaign consultant for the opponents. “Unfortunately, she’s been misled and is being used.”

Foes say the measure would open huge loopholes in the law. It establishes no limits on how much could be possessed or cultivated, doesn’t spell out dosages, quality standards or what illnesses can be treated, and doesn’t require a formal prescription, just a verbal OK from a doctor.

Gates, who also led a successful statewide push in 1993 for Proposition 172, which provided more money for police, predicts Proposition 215 would cause headaches for law enforcement: “What do we do when we catch a guy with a pickup load of marijuana, and he shows up at trial with a doctor saying it was all right to use that?”

With polls showing drug use among teenagers nationwide on the rise, Gates said it would “be sending absolutely the wrong message to kids,” turning marijuana into medicine instead of a menace.

“I’m talking from 35 years experience in law enforcement, 35 years watching drugs destroy our communities,” said Gates, who has appeared at press conferences in Sacramento, Los Angeles and elsewhere around the state against Proposition 215. “You can watch it in gangs, in families, in schools, in your co-workers. What you see is destruction of human beings. That’s not the kind of America I believe in.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Cannabis Campaign

State voters on Nov. 5 will decide whether to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The initiative follows legislative approval of two similar measures in 1994 and 1995 that were vetoed by the governor.

What Initiative Would Do

* Allow doctors to openly recommend medical use of marijuana, giving patients and physicians a legal defense if drug charges are brought. Doctors could give written or spoken permission.

* Prohibit drug prosecution of primary caregivers who obtain or grew marijuana for a patient.

* Encourage the state and federal governments to devise a plan to safely and affordably distribute marijuana to patients who need it.

* Have no effect on existing laws against sale or recreational use of pot.

****

ARGUMENTS FAVORING INITIATIVE

* Marijuana helps relieve suffering of patients with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses.

* Cancer and AIDS patients suffering nausea and vomiting find it difficult to ingest Marinol, a legally prescribed synthetic form of marijuana taken orally; Marinol also costs up to $30,000 annually.

* Physicians can currently prescribe a host of drugs--including cocaine, morphine and others--that have significantly greater side effects than marijuana.

* Does not permit patients to drive under the influence or in any way endanger public safety.

Supporters include: California Academy of Family Physicians, California Nurses Assn., San Francisco Medical Society, Congress of California Seniors, the Gray Panthers and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice

****

ARGUMENTS OPPOSING INITIATIVE

* Measure is a hoax by the “drug legalization lobby” as it pushes for full decriminalization of marijuana.

* Studies have not conclusively demonstrated marijuana helps the sick; its smoke can cause further health problems for cancer and AIDS patients.

* Legalizing an illegal drug, even for medical purposes, sends the wrong message to children at risk of using drugs.

* Measure doesn’t outline limits for how much marijuana can be possessed or cultivated; any illness--including headaches or sore muscles--could qualify if a doctor so deemed.

Opponents include: California Peace Officers Assn., California Medical Assn., California Narcotics Officers Assn., Partnership for a Drug Free America, Gov. Pete Wilson, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and President Clinton’s drug czar, Barry McCaffrey

Sources: Californians for Medical Rights and Citizens for a Drug-Free California

Researched by ERIC BAILEY / Los Angeles Times