Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2008
Source: Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, CA)
Copyright: 2008 Capitol Weekly Group
Contact:  http://www.capitolweekly.net
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4194
Author: Malcolm Maclachlan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING FORWARD

California's ongoing revolt against the federal ban on medical 
marijuana is moving forward with a pair of bills from Assembly Democrats.

AB 2743 from Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, now sits in the Assembly 
Appropriations Committee. It would instruct local governments and law 
enforcement agencies to "not assist in federal raids, arrests, 
investigations, or prosecutions" of medical marijuana patients or providers.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, pulled his AB 2279 
from a floor vote on Monday due to absence of a pair of key 
Democratic supporters. This bill would bar employers from firing 
workers for valid use of medical marijuana under state law. Leno said 
he would bring the bill back to the floor in the next few days.

Both bills are strongly opposed by several law enforcement agencies. 
Lobbyist and attorney John Lovell represents the California Narcotics 
Officers, Peace Officers and Police Chiefs Associations. He 
characterized these agencies as being in opposition not only to these 
particular bills but the entire system of pot clubs and dispensaries 
created when voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996. "It's not clear 
to what extent the clubs are legal under state law, not just federal 
law," Lovell said.

Lovell said both bills are broadly written and ignored the blurred 
supply chains between medical marijuana and regular drug dealing. He 
said that AB 2743 would prevent local law enforcement from alerting 
the feds to particular clubs that were large amounts of negative 
secondary effects, such as people reselling pot they bought at clubs 
or committing thefts and robberies in order to be able to buy at clubs.

"Anytime you have a location that has dope and cash, you're going to 
attract criminal elements," Lovell said. When asked if there was 
research showing these effects, he said, "There haven't been studies 
done. Who would do the studies?"

Lovell pointed to information gathered at the California Police 
Chiefs Association website. The site includes numerous documents from 
local law enforcement agencies citing anecdotal evidence of criminal 
activities in and around dispensaries. The site also includes links 
to a white paper from the Riverside County District Attorney's office 
alleging numerous problems with California's medical marijuana law 
and claims from an Australian doctor claiming the pot can cause psychosis.

Leno characterized Lovell's comments and those by several Republican 
opponents during Monday's floor debate as "hyperbole." "I couldn't 
believe the comments that came out of my Republican colleagues mouths 
because it was complete misinformation," Leno said.

He noted that his bill cites particular legal code stating that the 
law would not apply to workers in many sensitive jobs, such as 
driving heavy equipment, nor would it protect people who attempt to 
use pot while on the job. Despite claims that his bill would lead to 
massive increases in worker compensation costs, Leno said his 
opponents could not come up with any examples of medical marijuana 
patients causing workplace accidents due to off-hours use.

Leno said that he got to 39 votes on Monday. He pulled the bill due 
to the excused absences of a pair of Democrats who had indicated they 
will vote for it, Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, and Anthony 
Portantino, D-Pasadena. The bill came in response to the Raging Wire 
case, in which the California Supreme Court declined to reinstate a 
computer technician who had been fired for using medical marijuana on 
the written advice of a doctor.

Leno and Saldana are hardly alone among California Democrats in 
carrying medical marijuana measures. Senator Carole Migden, San 
Francisco, has a pair of live measures seeking to protect medical 
marijuana patients. This includes SJR 20, which asks the Bush 
administration back off pot club raids. Numerous other Democrats have 
carried similar measures in past sessions. The emergence of medical 
marijuana as a mainstream issue among California Democrats highlights 
a potential crossroads facing opponents of Proposition 215. Leading 
Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama recently came under 
fire for saying her would curtail federal raids against pot clubs in 
California and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, support for the practice appears to be growing steadily. 
Eight years after 56 percent of California voters approved the 
measure, a 2004 Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey 
found that 74 percent of Californians were in favor fully 
implementing Prop. 215. This included smaller majorities of 
Republicans and older voters, two of the groups generally considered 
most hostile to medical pot.

"I think it's pretty clear that the voters of California really don't 
want the feds coming in a doing this sort of thing, and don't want 
our tax dollars being spent to help them," said Bruce Mirken, a 
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Mirken pointed to other polls that showed the support of 
three-quarters of voters was fairly consistent nationwide. A 2005 
national Gallup poll showed 78 percent support for medical marijuana. 
Even a 2004 poll in conservative Alabama commission by the Mobile 
Register showed 75 percent support.

Lovell dismissed PPIC poll, saying it had mainly to do with how the 
question was phrased, and that respondents were not told about how 
easy it is for non-patients to get "medical" pot. He went on to 
compare medical marijuana to "turn of the century snake oil." He said 
that the legal argument in support was flawed, and compared the 
"state's rights" argument to Virginia's defense of segregation in the 
1950s and John C. Calhoun's attempt to defend South Carolina's tariff 
system just before the Civil War.

"This kind of nullification legislation has a long and inglorious 
history," Lovell said. He said there will likely be legal challenges 
to these bills if they become law. He also cited the threat of 
medical malpractice claims coming from patients who suffered "serious 
side effects" after being advised by their doctors to use marijuana.

In response, Leno asked: "Just like all the ones that didn't happen 
in the last 12 years?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom