MEDICAL MARIJUANA An uphill battle, despite legislative support BY IAN DONNIS

Proponents of an effort to make medical marijuana available to seriously ill patients in Rhode Island are heartened by a strong level of legislative support — bills introduced by Senator Rhoda Perry (D-Providence) and Representative Thomas Slater (D-Providence) have respectively attracted 18 and 50 cosponsors. The greatest stumbling block appears to be Governor Donald L. Carcieri, who, as something of a traditional Republican, seems unlikely to back a measure opposed by the federal government.

Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), points to the high degree of General Assembly backing in saying, "There really is no reason that this should not reach the governor’s desk this year." Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal was noncommittal about the outlook, saying, "The governor hasn’t had an opportunity to review the bill, and right now, we’re not prepared to express a position, one way or another." Still, support for the measure from Carcieri, an enthusiastic supporter of President George W. Bush, appears unlikely.

The medical marijuana bill has made steady progress since Perry introduced it in a different format in 1997. Groups backing the current measure include AIDS Project Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Medical Society, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Rhode Island State Nurses Association, and more than 100 local physicians. According to the MPP, a March 2004 Zogby poll of Rhode Island voters showed 69 percent favored legislation allowing seriously ill patients "to use and grow their own medical marijuana for medical purposes, so long as their physician approves."

MPP says 10 states — the closest are Maine and Vermont — have medical marijuana laws protecting patients and their caregivers from arrest and imprisonment. In general, though, says Mirken, it remains akin to pulling teeth to pass similar measures in more states — in large part because of the lingering effects of the drug war and politicians’ subsequent disinclination to be labeled as being "soft on drugs."

A growing level of public support augurs well for the eventual passage of a medical marijuana law in Rhode Island, but, given prevailing political trends, that day seems likely to remain off in the future.