Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jul 2004
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: Ellen Komp
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

PROPOSED MEDICAL POT GUIDELINES FAIR, MERCIFUL

Proposition 215 was passed by a majority of California voters in 1996, 
exempting patients with a doctor's recommendation from state laws against 
the possession and cultivation of marijuana. The law places no limits on 
the amount of marijuana a patient may possess or cultivate, but countless 
cases have wound their way through California courts since the law's 
passage, establishing amounts a jury will accept as reasonable for medical use.

When District Attorney Paul Gallegos took office, he reviewed those cases 
and established reasonable, scientifically derived prosecutorial guidelines 
in keeping with the surrounding counties of Sonoma, Mendocino and Del 
Norte. On Jan. 1, California law SB 420 took effect, establishing more 
restrictive state baseline amounts with the proviso that cities and 
counties can enact overriding ordinances.

Humboldt County supervisors will vote today on an ordinance to do just 
that. It has guidelines similar to Gallegos' and to the ordinance 
introduced by Supervisor Rodoni late last year. At that time, the 
supervisors appointed a task force to study the issue and make 
recommendations to the board.

After hearing from law enforcement, the schools, probation, labor, hospice, 
patients and caregivers, the task force compromised on a yearly guideline 
of 3 pounds of dried marijuana per patient. Patients had asked for 6 pounds 
(based on the amount the federal government supplies to patients in a 
research program); caregivers asked for 4.5 pounds and were willing to 
compromise as low as 2 pounds; and law enforcement and the schools never 
budged from the SB 420 minimum guideline of 8 ounces.

Rather than setting a guideline for the number of marijuana plants that can 
be grown, the task force recommended a maximum 100-square-foot plant canopy 
for cultivation. This figure is based on DEA studies that have determined 
it is growing area, not plant numbers, that best determine yield.

Four out of five amendments recommended by the schools were adopted by the 
task force and appear in the proposed ordinance. These reaffirm protections 
in SB 420 against marijuana use within 1,000 feet of schools, and allow 
schools and colleges to set policies of their own. The ordinance states it 
does not require places of employment to accommodate medical marijuana use, 
and it does not authorize a patient to use medical marijuana while in a 
motor vehicle that is being operated, or in any place where smoking is 
prohibited by law.

Sheriff Philp has said that his deputies are continuing to enforce the 
district attorney's original guidelines, which match the pending 
ordinance's, until such time as the board takes action on the matter. 
Apparently, allowing patients these amounts has not adversely impacted 
public safety. In fact, it might improve it, by allowing law enforcement to 
focus on violent crimes instead.

On July 1, a jury in Eureka acquitted a local man on sales charges and 
failed to convict him on possession charges after he grew 108 plants for 
medical use. Since police seized the man's plants, he potentially has 
grounds for a lawsuit against the county for the cost of his lost property 
and court costs.

In a situation where the county is facing an $8.4 million budget shortfall, 
and we are forced to cut home health care for the elderly, mental health 
services for children, drug and alcohol treatment programs, and library 
hours, it makes sense to conserve our resources by leaving small-time 
medical marijuana growers alone. The best way to do that is to enact this 
ordinance. If the board does not act, we will be stuck with SB 420's 
arbitrary plant numbers of 6 mature or 12 immature plants, leaving 
legitimate patients subject to harassment and the county wide open to 
litigation.

The American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Bar Association, 
the American Nurses Association, and the American Public Health Association 
all support medical marijuana, as do the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, the National Council of Churches, the National Progressive 
Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, 
the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and 
the United Methodist Church.

SB 1494, a bill awaiting signature by Gov. Schwarzenegger, makes clear that 
no governmental body has the constitutional authority to limit the amount 
of marijuana a patient may possess or grow for medical use. The issue is 
not how much patients can have. The issue how much they can have without 
having to come to court to justify it. The ordinance before the board is a 
practical and merciful one, and it should be adopted for the good of all in 
the county.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake