From: [C reuters] at [clari.net] (Reuters)
Newsgroups: clari.usa.top,clari.usa.politics,clari.usa.gov,clari.usa
Subject: Clinton, Three Ex-Presidents Oppose Pot Measure
Organization: Copyright 1996 by Reuters
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 4:52:30 PST
Expires: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 4:00:44 PST
                                         
         LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - President Clinton and three former  
U.S. presidents are taking a stand against a   California 
proposal that would legalize marijuana use by the sick, 
opponents of the measure say. 
         A group fighting the California proposal said President  
Clinton's drug policy chief, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, 
announced Clinton's opposition to the measure in Los Angeles 
Tuesday. 
         It said McCaffrey also released a letter signed by former  
presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford stating 
their opposition to the California initiative and a similar 
Arizona measure that will be voted on next week. 
         ``Both initiatives are hoaxes that seek to cloak drug  
legalization under the guise of compassion for the ill or 
strengthening drug laws,'' Bush, Carter and Ford wrote. 
         ``Given the resurgent drug use by our youth, these measures  
pose enormous threats to the public health of Arizonians, 
Californians, and all Americans,'' they said. 
         ``They send the erroneous message that dangerous and  
addictive drugs such as heroin, LSD, marijuana and 
methamphetamine are safe,'' they said, urging voters in Arizona 
and California to vote against the initiatives. 
         McCaffrey also released a letter from former U.S. Surgeon  
General C. Everett Koop opposing the California initiative. 
         ``When I was surgeon general, I helped get warning labels on  
every pack of cigarettes. Now, I'd like to put a warning label 
on a California marijuana initiative that is bad for America,'' 
Koop said. 
         The California measure would allow sick people and their  
''primary caregiver'' to legally possess and grow marijuana for 
medical use when recommended by a doctor. Both possessing and 
growing the drug are crimes under current state law. 
         Supporters say marijuana often eases nausea in cancer  
patients undergoing chemotherapy, reduces the pain of AIDS 
patients and lowers eye pressure in glaucoma sufferers. 
         Opponents allege the proposal is an attempt to legalize  
marijuana through the back door.