MEDICAL POT OK'D; SESSION ENDING TODAY

MONTPELIER - A measure legalizing the use and possession of marijuana by people suffering from AIDS, cancer or multiple sclerosis crossed its final legislative hurdle Wednesday, paving the way for it to become law without the signature of Gov.  James Douglas.

Senators, voting 20-7 in favor of the heavily lobbied bill, made Vermont's Legislature only the second in the country - Hawaii is the other - to legalize the use of medical marijuana.

The bill was sent to the governor, who confirmed that he would decline to sign it, meaning the measure automatically becomes law in five days.

Vermont will become the ninth state with such a law on the books.  In seven of those states voters, not legislators, approved the medical marijuana legislation.

"I will not oppose this decision of the elected representatives of the people, nor will I support it by signing it into law," Douglas said in a statement.  "I cannot actively support a measure that allows Vermonters to be subject to prosecution under federal law, increases the availability of a controlled substance and sends a dangerous message to our children."

According to administration officials, the White House lobbied Douglas to veto the bill.

Indeed, President Bush's deputy drug czar came to Vermont last month in a daylong lobbying blitz, and, in the last several days, a Bush administration official placed a _phone call to Douglas urging his rejection of the bill.

The new law is actually a much narrower package than that passed earlier this year by the Senate.  And while the governor was poised to veto that measure, he was said to be cognizant of the political popularity of making marijuana available to terminally ill people.

"I believe that we owe Vermonters with debilitating medical conditions the very best that medical science has to offer," Douglas said.

"Proven science has not demonstrated that marijuana is part of that," he said.  "Despite that fact, marijuana offers those with the most painful chronic diseases a measure of hope in a time of suffering."

The measure's supporters included the leader of Vermont's Catholics, who yesterday praised the governor for allowing it to become law.

"I believe this bill is a very encouraging indication that our legislature and our governor are seriously concerned about improving end-of-life care in Vermont," said Bishop Kenneth Angell of the Burlington Diocese.  "I know this was a hard decision for Gov.  Douglas."

Under the new law, people will be allowed to grow up to three marijuana plants in a locked room and possess 2 ounces of "usable pot."

Users will be under the supervision of the Department of Public Safety.

The medical marijuana law was the highest profile action on a day that many thought might be the biennium's last.  Despite a late afternoon handshake agreement on the $955 million operating budget, legislative leaders agreed to return to the State House today, a day on which almost everyone agrees will be the session's last.

Even though they didn't finish their work Wednesday, lawmakers wrapped up almost all of their outstanding issues, even coming close to agreement on the capital construction bill, a bill that always seems to be the scene for last-minute haggling.

As capital budget conferees battled over dams, State Police barracks and expanding the definition of horse farms behind closed doors with Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, D-Windsor, and House Speaker Walter Freed, R-Dorset, lawmakers in other parts of the building were busy passing bills and patching up differences.

* Lawmakers passed an administration-backed tax package that lowers corporate tax rates on Vermont-based businesses by closing a loophole used by multi-state companies to avoid paying taxes here.  They approved a 4.5 percent raise for state employees in a package that also boosts legislative pay by nearly 10 percent, its first bump in nearly a decade.

And they wrapped up the final touches on a workers' compensation bill that even its ardent supporters admitted would not have a significant impact on the annual double-digit premium increases faced by the state's businesses.

* In what had become a contentious issue in the wake of the two-year delay in construction on Chittenden County's Circumferential Highway, the state's transportation spending plan appeared nearly on its way to the governor.

House and Senate negotiators settled their differences and approved the $359 million transportation budget, which was also ratified by the full Senate.  The House is expected to approve the measure today.

The bill includes $80 million for bridge and road repair, $20 million of which was added at the last minute after a federal judge stopped construction of the controversial highway.  The largest part of the bill - some $147 million - is for basic maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure including snow plowing and upkeep of the state's nine airports.

* Another issue that has stymied lawmakers for months is how to expand Vermont's sex offender registry.  On Wednesday, however, it appeared that the names and photographs of the state's most serious sex offenders will be placed on the Internet by Oct.  1.  After some serious haggling that included a disagreement between House and Senate Democrats, negotiators settled their differences.

Crimes that will trigger automatic listing include aggravated sexual assault, and kidnapping and sexual assault of a child.  All two-time offenders that commit sexual assault or lewd and lascivious conduct with a child will also be posted online.

Aside from the Internet, the bill broadens what police can tell people about sexual predators living in their neighborhood.  Current law prohibits police from publicly disclosing their whereabouts unless they are convinced someone's safety is threatened.

The new law not only allows police to disclose this information when asked, but it directs police to take the initiative and inform the public when a potentially dangerous sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

Reporter Claude R.  Marx contributed to this story.