Measures in Alaska, Oregon and Nevada would establish state registries of patients entitled to use it. In Alaska and Oregon, patients could get identification cards to avoid arrest. The laws would require patients to get a doctor's recommendation that marijuana will help one or more of a list of illnesses that includes cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, chronic pain, seizures and muscle spasms. Advocates hope the initiatives' narrow focus on medical applications will appeal to voter compassion and evoke images of solace, of pain eased, of appetite restored and of nausea quieted. A ballot measure in Arizona would require heroin, LSD, marijuana and certain other drugs to be authorized by the FDA before they could be prescribed as medicines.
Polls indicate that measure is trailing.
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