MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Tighten Legalization Bills, Says L.A. Times

      Asserting that the federal ban on medical marijuana is "needlessly stringent," a Los Angeles Times editorial says Gov. Gray Davis should work with legislators to tighten a bill detailing the implementation of Proposition 215 rather than vetoing it outright. The governor has suggested he will veto the bill, authored by state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), "because it would put California in the position of legalizing a drug" banned by the federal government. But a veto would still leave the state "stuck with a vague law impossible to put into effect," says the paper, adding that "a well-crafted bill would help state law enforcement officials as they try to decide what to allow" in enforcing Proposition 215. The Times suggests two revisions to the Vasconcellos measure: tighten wording to restrict marijuana use only for those with "grave illnesses" such as AIDS and cancer, and limit the scope of the bill, which currently would permit "public smoking of medical marijuana just about everywhere cigarettes can be legally smoked" (8/16).