Pubdate: Sun, 16 Dec 2012
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Edward Sifuentes

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS WANT VISTA TO REGULATE DISPENSARIES, NOT BAN THEM

Medical Pot Users Claim Discrimination

Patients Cry Foul Over City's Refusal to Allow Dispensaries, Decision
to Sue Three of Them

Medical marijuana users in Vista say the city is discriminating
against them by refusing to allow dispensaries in town and suing three
such businesses that were operating without a license.

The patients being served by one of the dispensaries include a
23-year-old woman who suffers from cerebral palsy; a 23-year-old
former Marine who served in Afghanistan and has post-traumatic stress
disorder; and a 48-year-old man who had polio as a child and has had
to walk with crutches all his life.

The three patients said medical marijuana helps them deal with various
problems associated with their conditions, including pain, anxiety
attacks and lack of appetite. They are members of the North County
Botanicals dispensary, which the city sued in March.

"I was very suicidal before, very suicidal," said Brenden Chappell,
the former Marine. Tall and muscular, with short cropped hair, he
could be mistaken for someone still on active duty.

Chappell said he was injured in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2010.
Though his injuries aren't obvious to anyone looking at him, when he
recalls his service in Afghanistan, he clearly fights back his
emotions. He said various drugs - including Zoloft - that were
prescribed to alleviate panic attacks, depression, anxiety and other
symptoms of PTSD did not work for him.

"Once I got out of the military, I was able to apply for my medical
marijuana card," Chappell said. "And once I started using medical
cannabis, that's when things started to get better for me."

In 1996, California voters legalized medical marijuana, but the drug
is illegal under federal law. Five years ago, Vista adopted a
redeveloping code outlawing marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Earlier this year, the city filed lawsuits against Clubmed420, North
County Botanicals and MJMD Organics, as well as their landlords, after
code enforcement officers found the dispensaries operating without a
business license, according to court documents.

In October, an attorney representing the North County Botanicals filed
a cross complaint against the city, alleging that Vista was
discriminating against medical marijuana patients and harassing them
through its enforcement efforts.

Several members of the dispensary said they would like the city to
create regulations allowing them to operate. But that appears unlikely.

Vista Mayor Judy Ritter said marijuana use is against federal law and
that she does not support changing city codes to allow dispensaries to
operate.

If marijuana is considered medicine, it should be prescribed by
doctors and dispensed by pharmacies, Ritter said. She added that the
system is being abused by kids who simply want to get high because
there are doctors willing to recommend the drug for minor and
nonexistent conditions.

"Maybe there needs to be a different way of dispensing it," Ritter
said. "And I think it's abused."

Matt Pappas, the attorney representing North County Botanicals and the
three patients, said the city should create regulations to prevent
misuse, not ban dispensaries.

"Instead, they're harming the people that the law is meant to
protect," Pappas said. "It's a medical law, and these are the people
that it's for."

North County Botanicals serves about 200 active members, said Larry
Messick, who organized the dispensary. He said the dispensary helps
provide medical marijuana to people who can't grow it themselves, such
as Sonia Scott.

Scott, 23, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said medical
marijuana helps her deal with pain, panic attacks and depression. She
said having a dispensary nearby is critical because she can't drive or
travel far on her wheelchair.

"I think they don't understand," Scott said regarding city officials
who want to shut dispensaries down. "They think it's a bad thing, but
I think it's a good thing. I don't know what I would do."

Ginger Scott, Sonia's mother, said that before medical marijuana, her
daughter had to take handfuls of pills to deal with her symptoms. She
said those doctor-prescribed pills were more addictive and had many
more harmful side effects than marijuana.

Ramin Hodaee, 48, who had polio as a child and has post-polio
syndrome, said he had back surgery two years ago to strengthen his
spine with metal rods. He said the morphine and hydrocodone that were
prescribed to him to control his back pain were creating more problems
than they were solving.

"Over the past two years, cannabis has basically saved my life,"
Hodaee said. "There was no relief in sight. Quality of life gets to a
point where it doesn't make sense, and cannabis has been the only
thing that regulates my sleeping, the pain level, my emotions and my
mood." 
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