Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2007
Source: Ledger Dispatch (Jackson, CA)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2007 Amador Ledger Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.ledger-dispatch.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3431
Author: Raheem Hosseini
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

POT WAR LINGERS ON FOR REGION

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series.

When it comes to current drug laws, perhaps none are more 
schizophrenic than the ones surrounding the issue of medical 
marijuana. Legal in some states - including California - outlawed in 
others and still very much illegal at the federal level, small 
counties like Amador often serve as ground zero in the battle over 
conflicting drug policies.

"Technically, people possessing marijuana at the state level can be 
prosecuted at the federal level," explained Melinda Aiello, chief 
assistant district attorney for Amador County.

While Amador was one of the first counties to implement a medical 
marijuana identification card program created by the state 
Legislature in 2003, it has been less receptive to the idea of 
licensed pot dispensaries setting up.

In the summer of 2005, the county instituted an indefinite moratorium 
on issuing use permits to businesses where individuals could obtain 
marijuana with a licensed doctor's recommendation.

The rationale then was that a June 6, 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling 
that the federal government could enforce federal drug laws in states 
with conflicting legal codes could potentially leave the county 
vulnerable to lawsuits.

Even back then, it was a bitter pill to swallow, with then-District 3 
Supervisor Richard Vinson calling a legal system that allows alcohol 
and tobacco sales but outlaws medical cannabis "terribly confused."

That confusion has persisted, with more than a third of California 
counties so far refusing to implement ID card programs like the one 
in Amador, and many local municipalities enforcing their own moratoriums.

One Man's Fight

Allen Toupe is not your stereotypical marijuana user. He doesn't have 
droopy eyes and giggle uncontrollably or even utter a single "man" 
during an hour-long interview. The Ione father of two is one of a 
growing number of people both locally and nationally hoping to alter 
the perception of medicinal cannabis, which continues to encounter 
fierce opposition in some circles.

Toupe's own medical history reads like a Russian melodrama. Nearly 
losing his left foot to a grisly Rototiller accident at the age of 3, 
Toupe was infected with dirty blood during a transfusion, leaving him 
with Hepatitis C. Years later, he was diagnosed with a rare strain of 
cancer called cryogobulinemia, which turns one's blood into cold, 
clotted sludge. As a result, Toupe had his colon and bowels removed 
three years ago, which is what ultimately convinced his doctor to 
recommend marijuana for the pain.

Toupe credits the recommendation with saving his life from an 
overload of legal, opiate-derived pharmaceuticals like methodone and 
liquid Oxycontin and helping him keep his 10-year-old son.

"I was completely incapacitated," he said of the effect legal 
pharmaceuticals had on him. "Those drugs weren't helping me."

Toupe was something of a pioneer in terms of medical marijuana ID 
cards. When the county geared up its program in 2005, Toupe was the 
23rd person in the state to get one. The last time he renewed his 
card, he was listed as No. 1,415.

No Consensus

Each California county has its own unique experience with the medical 
marijuana issue. Amador and Calaveras counties have ID card programs, 
but no licensed businesses where patients can fill their 
prescriptions. El Dorado County has neither an ID card program nor 
any dispensaries, but at least one of those issues will be revisited 
this month, with that county's board of supervisors set to discuss a 
possible ID card program at an upcoming meeting.

"No decision has yet been reached, including whether dispensaries 
will be allowed in the county," said Margaret Williams, public 
information officer for the El Dorado County Department of Public Health.

Yet while the county as a whole currently has a temporary moratorium 
against medical marijuana dispensaries, the city of Placerville 
approved them in 2004 and has one currently in operation. The manager 
for the dispensary said he had a relatively easy time gaining 
approval for the nonprofit business and has encountered no legal 
headaches since.

"Counties and cities don't really have a leg to stand on," Matt 
Vaughn, corporate executive officer of Medical Marijuana Caregivers 
Association, said of the precarious legal position local 
municipalities put themselves in by erecting moratoriums. "It just 
takes a legal challenge to (overturn) it."

After the MMCA threatened its own legal challenge against Placerville 
in 2004, the city formed a committee to draft its dispensary 
ordinance and passage was granted. Since then, Vaughn said his 
business has not had to weather one federal raid, which hasn't been 
the case for several other dispensaries operating in the state. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake