DOUGLAS SEEN BEHIND EFFORT TO MOVE STRICTER MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

MONTPELIER - Two House Republicans said Monday they had gotten the word that Gov.  James Douglas was behind the decision by House leadership to move a medical marijuana bill this year.

One, Rep.  Loren Shaw, R-Derby, said he was so upset by the decision that he would not seek re-election to the House in November.

"I don't want to play in that sandbox with people who don't take their oath seriously," Shaw said.  He argued during House debate on Thursday and again in an interview Monday that legislators' oath of office demands that they abide by federal law, which considers marijuana an illegal substance.

House Speaker Walter Freed, R-Dorset, and Douglas' spokesman Jason Gibbs both downplayed the governor's role in the decision to release the bill from the House Health and Welfare Committee and bring it to the House floor, where it passed Friday.

"He hasn't asked me point-blank to bring out a bill," Freed said of the governor.

Gibbs said Douglas will decide whether to sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature if and when the Senate passes the House version and sends it to the governor.

Shaw and fellow Derby Republican Rep.  Nancy Sheltra said they were led to understand it was the governor's wish to have the House pass a bill, both to head off a less restrictive medical marijuana measure passed by the Senate and to defuse the matter as an issue during the coming campaigns.

"My understanding was that he ( Douglas ) didn't want this to become a campaign issue," said Sheltra.  But she added, "What could affect the governor's campaign is if he doesn't support the traditional values that a lot of us are asking him to support."

Sheltra said several national health-related groups had come out against legalizing marijuana for use by sick people.  She said extensive data point to the health risks of smoking the drug.

Gibbs said that if the Health and Welfare Committee had not moved the more restrictive bill to the floor, the Senate-passed bill likely would have won a House majority.

"That was an extremely broad and, from a public safety point of view, dangerous proposal," Gibbs said.  "The administration has said to House leaders that if in fact their body is going to pass a marijuana bill it should be as narrow as possible and address as many public safety concerns as possible."

Douglas has been very cool to the idea of legalizing marijuana for use by very sick people in relieving pain, nausea and other symptoms.  Like Shaw, he has voiced concern that such use would violate federal law.  The governor also has said passing such a law would send mixed messages about marijuana to the state's young people.

Gibbs said public support for a medical marijuana bill was a factor in talks between the administration and lawmakers.

"I don't know whether the politics of this issue was specifically discussed in the context of the House proposal," Gibbs said.  "What I do know is that the governor and legislative leaders have talked about the broad public support for a compassionate effort to help those with terminal illnesses and severe, debilitating conditions alleviate their symptoms."