cannabisnews.com: Backers of 3 MMJ Related Proposals Seek Voters Backers of 3 MMJ Related Proposals Seek Voters Posted by FoM on February 13, 2000 at 07:56:36 PT By Bob Moritz, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Dana Copp of Springdale is a retired medical doctor who supports legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, specifically to help ease chronic pain or pain from terminal illness such as cancer and AIDS. Although he says he has never smoked the illegal drug, Copp, 69, who is retired from federal government employment in the Public Health Service, said he knows people who turned to it because of their unbearable pain. He also has read numerous articles supporting the use of marijuana as a medicinal drug. "I'm not a front man, a flag-waver for the cause," he said. "I'm simply an individual who sees an inappropriate kind of a response to a logical kind of treatment." Copp isn't for legalizing marijuana, and he's not for reducing the penalty for possession of the drug. The doctor recently joined forces with the Alliance for the Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas to support an initiated act that would provide that people may smoke marijuana for health problems if they have a doctor's permission. Denele Campbell of Fayetteville, president of the organization, said the proposal is patterned after an Oregon law. Supporters of the measure have until July 7 to collect at least 56,481 signatures of registered Arkansas voters to get the act on the ballot for the general election, which is to occur Nov. 7. Similar measures that allow marijuana for medicinal purposes have been approved in Alaska, Arizona, California, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and in Washington, D.C., Campbell said. Inhaling small amounts of marijuana helps alleviate nausea and increases appetite, she said. The Arkansas proposal would require the state Department of Health to help administer a medicinal marijuana program. It would have physicians who deem marijuana necessary in the treatment of their patients notify the department. The department would be required to issue a registry identification card to the patient, which would state the patient could legally smoke certain amounts of marijuana as recommended by the doctor. Under federal law, physicians are not allowed to actually prescribe marijuana, Campbell said. The registry identification cards would also protect the patients from criminal charges by the state so long as they did not exceed the amount of marijuana the doctor recommended that they have. The department has said that marijuana is harmful to a person's brain, lungs, immune system, memory, perception, judgment and motivation, and that any benefits to easing pain are unfounded. The department also has said it does not support any plan to legalize the drug for medicinal purposes. A rally to show support for the measure and to collect signatures is scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Laman Library at 2801 N. Orange. St. in North Little Rock. This proposal is not the only one vying for the attention and approval of Arkansas voters. Two others also are being promoted for the 2000 ballot. One that has the specific endorsement of the Arkansas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also known as NORML, would limit the penalty for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana to a $200 fine with no imprisonment, according to Glen Schwarz of Little Rock, past president and now treasurer of the organization. Possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is now a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine not exceeding $1,000. The NORML-backed measure also is a proposed initiated act. It has been endorsed by the Arkansas Libertarian Party, Schwarz said. Eleven other states -- Alaska, Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio, Nebraska, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York and Maine -- have passed similar laws, he said. Barry Emigh of North Little Rock has proposed a third, a constitutional amendment, which would allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes without a doctor's prescription. The amendment also would make it legal for those using marijuana for medicinal purposes to cultivate it if it is grown "in a manner not obvious to the public sight." It also would reduce the penalty for possession of a quarter-ounce or less to a $75 fine, and between a quarter-ounce and half-ounce to a $150 fine. His plan also would provide "that all persons serving jail sentences at the time of the passage of this amendment for the possession of half-a-ounce or less of marijuana shall have the part of the jail sentence that is attributable to the possession of half-an-ounce or less of marijuana dismissed." Emigh needs 70,701 signatures of registered Arkansas voters by July 7 to get his proposed amendment on the November ballot. A significant difference between Emigh's proposed constitutional amendment and the two proposed initiated acts is that the Legislature cannot amend a constitutional amendment that the voters adopt. An initiated act approved by the voters could be amended by lawmakers by a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate. Supporters of the three proposals have mixed opinions on whether presenting three different marijuana-related proposals to voters at the same time will hurt or help their causes. "I think there may be some confusion, but if you look at mine, which I call the simple possession bill, it makes the most sense," said Schwarz. He said he also is promoting the other proposed initiated act. Currently, Schwarz said, the petition for his proposal has about 1,000 signatures. If it doesn't have at least 10,000 by the end of next month the group will consider dropping the effort. Campbell believes that having three marijuana-related proposals both helps and hurts her proposal. "It certainly makes sure that the topic is out there," she said. "It also is a little confusing with three out there for the voters. But, I think that a person who takes a couple of minutes to look at the provisions of our bill would find it more thorough." Campbell said her organization has not taken a public stand on the reduction in penalty for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. She did not know how many signatures have been collected on the petition for her proposal. Emigh said he has not considered the effect that three proposals would have on each other before he filed. "I think mine does what both the others do," he said. Emigh said he has not begun collecting signatures. In 1999 the Legislature voted down a bill that would have permitted medical use of marijuana. "I think there is a lot of paranoia about marijuana," Emigh said. "I think alcohol is far more worse than marijuana." Published: February 13, 2000Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. 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