Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 2009
Source: Monterey County Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.montereyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/273
Author: Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)
Cited: Americans for Safe Access  http://safeaccessnow.com/

MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUPPORTERS SUE DMV

Driver's Licenses Suspended

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Matt Vaughn was pulled over for speeding on the 
freeway in Northern California early on a Sunday morning, he had a 
bag of marijuana on the passenger seat.

The California Highway Patrol officer smelled the weed, searched the 
car, took the marijuana and a pipe and gave Vaughn a sobriety test, 
which he passed. Vaughn showed the officer his doctor's 
recommendation to use marijuana for glaucoma. The officer was unimpressed.

"He said, in Glenn County they don't recognize those kinds of 
things," said Vaughn, 55, who has a ponytail, a mustache and a beard. 
"He was not very friendly about it."

The 2005 incident cost Vaughn a speeding ticket, his 1 1/4 ounces of 
pot, his driver's license -- and nine months of fighting the 
California Department of Motor Vehicles -- before he prevailed.

As a result of that and other encounters involving medical marijuana, 
an advocacy group has sued the state DMV, asking for a written policy 
that says medical marijuana should be treated the same as prescription drugs.

The suit contends that the DMV has a pattern of investigating and 
suspending the driver's licenses of people who use pot on the 
recommendation of their doctors.

"It happens a disturbing amount," said Joseph D. Elford, chief 
counsel for Americans for Safe Access, which promotes legalizing 
marijuana for medicinal purposes and research.

Elford said his Oakland-based group has received complaints about the 
DMV from patients Advertisement in several Northern and Central 
California counties. Elford and others said they were unaware of any 
Southern California cases.

The DMV can obtain medical information about someone if an 
investigation is launched into the person's fitness to drive.

In Vaughn's case, the CHP officer sent the DMV a report about Vaughn, 
along with a medical journal article saying marijuana was not the 
choice drug for treating glaucoma.

In another case, Rose Johnson, 53, the plaintiff named in the pending 
suit, used medical marijuana for back and neck injuries and lost her 
license after a DMV worker referred her for an investigation. The 
worker had noted that Johnson had difficulty moving when she went in 
to renew her license. Despite a perfect driving record, the DMV cited 
the Merced woman's marijuana use last year in revoking her license, 
the suit said.

Elford said the DMV also learns of medical marijuana patients from 
law enforcement officers who ask drivers if they have used drugs in 
the 24 hours before a traffic stop.

Medical marijuana users answer truthfully, thinking they are 
protected by law, Elford said. He added that he does not advise them 
to lie because defrauding a police officer is a misdemeanor in California.

State officials said in interviews that it is not their policy to 
take licenses from marijuana patients.

DMV spokesman Armando Botello declined to comment on the lawsuit and 
said the office does not keep statistics on the number of licenses 
yanked as a result of medical marijuana. But he indicated the 
instances were probably isolated.

Although medicinal weed is not automatic grounds for revoking a 
license, conditions that impair safe driving, including "poor 
judgment, aggressive behavior, impaired decision-making, slowed motor 
functions, impaired coordination ... and drowsiness" could result in 
license removal, he said.

During a DMV investigation, the driver's doctor is asked to fill out 
a five-page questionnaire about the patient's medical condition and drug use.

Jaime Coffee, a CHP spokeswoman, said its policy is to comply with 
the state medical marijuana law, a policy that Americans for Safe 
Access won in an earlier suit.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom