Dean Interupts Speech To Answer Question

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean had one of those moments Sunday that give politicians pause whenever they consider visiting Madison.

As the physician and former Vermont governor was turning from his pledge of universal health insurance for Americans to assail the nation's prison-building binge, he was interrupted by a heckler.

The voice asked: Could Dean justify why the government is jailing patients who use marijuana for medical purposes?

Dean told the crowd of about 5,000 outside the Kohl Center that his stance on the issue was "a little complicated," but "since you asked about it, I'll divert from my speech for one second."

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Dean, who is promoting himself as a grass-roots alternative to Republican President George W. Bush, told the crowd that the reason he's been so successful "is not just because we say things and get in the president's face, but because we believe that all of you are not foot soldiers, but that all of you are in a sense running the campaign."

That means listening to his supporters and not just giving speeches, he said. So Dean responded to the question.

Dean said the nation needs to consider nonviolent drug crimes as a "medical problem and not a judicial problem," a statement that drew more cheers.

He said he is reluctant to promise action on the issue "for the same reason I'm pro-choice: I don't like politicians making medical decisions."

But he said if he were elected, he would ask the Food and Drug Administration to review all studies, recommend the appropriate medical uses, "and we will follow their recommendations."

Dean added that based on his review of the studies, the FDA would most likely recommend that marijuana is "fine for HIV/AIDS and cancer patients and ... it would probably not be fine for glaucoma, where the risks outweigh the benefits."

Dean's response won grudging approval from longtime pro-marijuana activist Ben Masel, who said a friend posed the question.

"It was the best answer we've heard from him to date," said Masel, who said he was pleased by Dean's answer that drug abuse should be treated as a medical problem and not a crime.

"And I give him credit for being willing to take a less-than-sycophantic question. There are a lot of campaigns that would have hauled us out rather than answer the question."

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