Pubdate: Sat, 30 May 2009
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.signonsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Jeff McDonald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries

FRYE WANTS MEDICAL POT TASK FORCE BACK

Councilwoman: City Can Clarify Policies

SAN DIEGO -- Pot collectives keep opening across San Diego, and 
Councilwoman Donna Frye keeps getting asked how constituents can 
acquire medical marijuana without being arrested.

So Frye thinks there's no better time to re-establish the city's 
medical marijuana task force, a long-dormant committee that earlier 
this decade developed guidelines to help patients follow state 
medical pot laws.

People have a right to be provided with the information that will 
allow them to comply with the law that voters approved," Frye said. 
"It may be a matter of common sense, but it's also an issue of 
compassion for people who are legitimate patients who should not have 
to live under a cloud of fear."

On May 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit San 
Diego County filed against California. The suit contended that the 
state cannot require counties to issue IDs to medical marijuana 
patients because the drug remains illegal under federal law.

Frye said the high court's inaction gives the city an opportunity to 
clarify local policies toward medical marijuana.

Two medical pot collectives opened in San Diego this month, raising 
to at least 20 the number of listings on Web sites alerting patients 
to sources of the drug.

The proliferation of storefront dispensaries comes as local law 
enforcement officials say there's no allowance in state laws for 
over-the-counter pot sales.

In 2006, federal drug agents joined San Diego-area police and 
deputies in raiding more than a dozen dispensaries. They confiscated 
marijuana, patient records and cash, and they threatened the 
operators of other storefronts with similar raids if they didn't close.

Since then, patients have struggled to find safe and reliable sources 
of marijuana, which can be legally cultivated for medicinal use but 
is often difficult to grow effectively.

Other communities across California have adopted specific rules 
governing collectives beyond guidelines from the state Attorney 
General's Office.

Seven years ago, the San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force developed 
a standard that qualified patients could adhere to for growing and 
smoking marijuana, which has been shown to relieve pain and stimulate 
the appetite for cancer and other patients.

The San Diego guidelines called for city-issued identification, but 
the effort was stalled when the state required counties to issue IDs 
to medical pot patients. San Diego County refused and tried to take 
the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Juliana Humphrey, a San Diego defense lawyer who chaired the defunct 
task force, said that lawsuit's rejection provides an opportunity for 
local officials to clarify how they now plan to enforce state medical pot laws.

The last piece of the puzzle is to set out what are our community 
guidelines," Humphrey said. "The people of San Diego deserve to know 
what's legal and what's not legal."

Mayor Jerry Sanders didn't return calls seeking comment on the 
growing number of dispensaries or Frye's idea to reconstitute the 
task force. Frye said she plans to bring the issue to the City 
Council as soon as next month.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom