Pubdate: Wed, 06 Nov 2002
Source: Agence France-Presses (France Wire)
Copyright: 2002 Agence France-Presse
Author: Ann Harrison

SAN FRANCISCO VOTERS APPROVE CITY CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION

San Francisco, CA (AFP)-- The city of San Francisco may soon begin
cultivating their own lush crop of world-renowned California
marijuana. Voters here have enthusiastically supported a ballot
measure directing their city officials to consider growing and
distributing medical cannabis.

Proposition S, which passed by 63%, could make San Francisco the first
city in US to provide cannabis for sick people. It will also put the
city, and the state of California, on a direct collision course with
the federal government.

California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act (Proposition 215) allows
doctors to recommend cannabis for their patients. Since then, medical
cannabis dispensaries have sprouted up around the city to give
patients safe access to high quality marijuana instead of having to
score it on the street. Nearly 4,000 patients have enrolled in San
Francisco's novel Medical Cannabis Identification Card program
administered by the Department of Public Health.

On October 29th, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled
that the US government could not revoke a doctor's license for
recommending cannabis to those with chronic illness. The court found
that this policy interferred with the free speech rights of doctors
and patients. The judges also upheld a two-year court order
prohibiting the goverment from revoking the licenses of these physicians.

But the federal government still refuses to recognize the legitimacy
of Proposition 215. Under the Bush administration, the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration has been raiding medical cannabis clubs in
California arresting patients and activists. Opponents to Proposition
S question the medical value of marijuana and argue that the city does
not have the resources to properly protect a valuable marijuana crop
from theft.

"We think it sends the wrong message to the country as a whole that
the city of San Francisco will get into the business of growing
marijuana," said Richard Meyer, a special agent in the DEA's San
Francisco field office. Meyer argues that no scientific study supports
the medical use of marijuana and insists that the US Congress makes
laws for all of the US. "The US Congress has not rescheduled marijuana
which remains a Schedule 1 substance with no acceptable medical use
and a high potential for abuse,"said Meyer."We will uphold these laws."

Despite the threat of arrest, patients and care givers in San
Francisco continue to pioneer the use of marijuana to alleviate the
suffering of people diagnosed with serious medical conditions such as
cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma and chronic pain. Activists point to a
report by the Institute of Medicine, commissioned by the White House
in 1999, which presents scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of
medical cannabis. Since 1996, voters in eight other states have passed
similar laws supporting the rights of patients to use medical cannabis.

Many activists say they are disappointed that Proposition S only
directs San Francisco to consider distributing medical cannabis
instead of compelling the city to do so and offering an implementation
plan. But they hope that the passage of Proposition S will push the
state of California to block federal drug raids and provide added
protection for vulnerable patients.

"The state should be supporting voters and patients by taking the
risks on themselves to go up against the feds, and it lays down the
gauntlet for the state to do something," says Hilary McQuie, campaign
coordinator for Americans For Safe Access which supports the rights of
medical cannabis patients.

"The will of the voters of California and eight other states must be
respected," wrote the four San Francisco City Supervisors, or city
counsel members, who supported the ballot measure. They affirmed that
the city of San Francisco "will do whatever it takes to protect the
health and well-being of its citizens." According to the Supervisors,
Proposition S "shines a light on an outdated and scientifically
unsound federal medical cannabis policy for the entire world to see."
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