MEDICAL MARIJUANA: SENATE COMMITTEE HEARS TESTIMONY

      The Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings yesterday
 regarding recently approved ballot measures in California and
 Arizona that legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. 
 SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE reports that committee members "vowed to
 watch the impact" of the initiatives, "calling them a first step
 in a well-orchestrated, well-funded plan to legalize drugs in
 America."  Committee Chair Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT), said, "We can't
 let this go without a response" (Martin, 12/3).  AP/ARIZONA DAILY
 STAR reports that the hearing proved to be a "tricky situation"
 for Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), who attempted to argue that his
 "constituents were duped into passing" the law while avoiding
 "offending those very constituents."  Kyl said, "How could this
 happen in Arizona?  I am extraordinarily embarrassed."  He
 contended that state residents who voted for the measure "were
 deceived, and deliberately so, by sponsors" of the proposition. 
 Arizona's law (Proposition 200), which allows physicians to
 prescribe marijuana, heroin and other controlled substances for
 medical purposes, passed 65% to 35%; California's law
 (Proposition 215), which allows the medical use of marijuana,
 passed 56% to 44% (see AHL 11/6). 
      DEADLINE USA:  Sen. Hatch and other lawmakers used the
 hearing to seek "increased enforcement of federal anti-drug laws
 to combat the propositions' impact" (Skorneck, 12/3).  USA TODAY
 reports that the committee "pressed the Clinton administration
 ... for a policy to deal with" the new initiatives (12/3). 
 Saying that the measures passed because "philanthropists of the
 drug legalization movement pumped millions of dollars" into the
 campaigns, Hatch gave the administration until January 1, 1997 to
 "provide a description of federal policy and options" for dealing
 with this issue.  White House Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
 said "We're trying to puzzle through what our response will be." 
 AP/DAILY STAR reports that "[f]ederal law enforcement officials
 have said they will pursue California and Arizona drug violators
 on a case-by-case basis, but have no specific plan yet" (12/3).  
      DANGER WARNING:  Bill Zimmerman, campaign manager for
 California for Medical Rights, said the scope of Proposition 215
 should be strictly limited.  He testified that an "unregulated
 boom in pot cultivation could" harm efforts to increase medical
 uses of marijuana.  "If Proposition 215 is ultimately perceived
 as leading to a substantial increase in recreational marijuana
 smoking and cultivation, we could very easily see the passage of
 an initiative that overturns the decriminalization of medical
 marijuana. ... The people could take away in 1998 what they gave
 in 1996" (CHRONICLE, 12/3).