Subject: Marijuana/Needle Initiatives filed in DC
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 12:51:08 -0500

ACT UP Washington DC
825 5th Street NE Suite A
Washington, DC 20002
December 5, 1996                                   phone 202.547.6780
AIDS Activists file medical marijuana initiative in DC
++++++++++++++++++++++++

Washington, DC -- Members of the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP in Washington DC
filed papers today with the Board of Elections and Ethics for a ballot
initiative legalizing the medical use of marijuana.

ACT UP spokesperson Steve Michael said the proposed "Compassionate Use of
Marijuana for Medical Purposes Act" is based upon a similar measure recently
approved by California voters.  Activists will start circulating petitions
once the language of the initiative is approved by the Board of Elections and
Ethics.

Many AIDS patients currently use marijuana to alleviate symptoms, including
nausea and loss of appetite.  AIDS wasting syndrome, in which patients
literally starve to death, is a leading cause of death among AIDS patients
who simply cannot keep food down.  Medications used to treat the
opportunistic infections associated with AIDS are frequently orally injested,
and cannot be taken without the anti-nausea effects of marijuana smoking.

Marijuana is also commonly used to treat glaucoma patients, in addition to
people with cancer suffering the excruciating side effects of chemo and
radiation therapy.  

Activists expressed concern over the announcement by Councilmember Charlene
Drew Jarvis and US Attorney Eric Holder to stiffen penalties for the sale and
possession of marijuana.  States Michael, who is HIV positive, "We need to
move forward on this issue now, before Jarvis and Holder make felons out of
the terminally ill."  Michael adds that the DC Corrections system has a poor
track record in the treatment and care of prisoners diagnosed with HIV and
AIDS, including the death almost two years ago of an AIDS patient chained to
a wheelchair and neglected for more than a week.

Activists are optimistic that they will be able to obtain the necessary
signatures to place the medical marijuana measure on the ballot in DC.  

Michael concludes, "Sixteen years into the AIDS epidemic, we have only a
handful of approved, but often toxic treatments for AIDS patients.  We should
not make criminals out of sick and dying people who are simply trying to
improve the quality and quantity of their lives."

AIDS activists are enlisting the support of other patient advocacy groups to
gather the necessary signatures within the six month period.

The activists also filed an initiative with the DC Board of Elections and
Ethics that amends the District's drug laws to eliminate criminal penalties
for the possession of needles.