Pubdate: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle Section: Editorial Page 8 Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/ MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE: LET'S MAKE THE LAW WORK CALIFORNIA, THE FIRST state in the union to legalize medical marijuana 2 1/2 years ago, finally appears ready to find a way to properly implement the law, and it's high time. In November 1996, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 215, a landmark initiative that permitted patients to use, grow and possess pot if it is recommended by a doctor. It was a radical initiative, poorly drafted and loaded with ambiguities. The measure put the state in direct conflict with federal law and the Clinton administration's hard-nosed drug policy. While doctors can prescribe morphine, amphetamines, codeine and a pharmacopoeia of potentially dangerous drugs, federal law strictly outlaws marijuana under any circumstances. The drug war crackdown on marijuana has taken a heavy toll on pot heads and peddlers, filling jails and prisons across the country. Though penalties for pot offenses often seem draconian, we are not arguing for legalizing marijuana. Just for the record, we deplore illegal drug use by anyone and urge kids to stay clean. Marijuana should not be used for recreation, and adults who use it as medicine should not drive or operate heavy equipment. Since Prop. 215 passed, medical pot advocates have sought legal ways to distribute marijuana, such as cannabis buyers' clubs, where patients can buy the stuff with a note from their physician in safe surroundings. But zealous federal and state drug warriors have fought the clubs every step of the way, closing most and driving the rest underground. It is difficult for many law-abiding patients to find the pot they insist helps their medical conditions and gives them solace. In a hopeful sign, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has appointed a 25- member task force to study Prop. 215 and find ways to implement and oversee the law. The task force of narcotics experts, doctors, pot advocates and law enforcement officers is co-chaired by state Senator John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, a long-time champion of medical marijuana, and Santa Clara District Attorney George Kennedy, a law-and-order Republican. Their tricky mission is to find ways to make marijuana available to patients who truly need it, without violating federal law and within the spirit of Prop. 215. It's a worthy goal. More than 70 modern scientific studies and 2000 years of anecdotal evidence support claims that pot is a helpful folk medicine for people suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, migraine headaches and an array of other ailments. Until a federal judge halted pot sales operations last October, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative was a model of discreet distribution. The cooperative required a membership card, a California doctor's written recommendation, and patients had to be state residents. Although it no longer sells pot, the Oakland cooperative remains open, offering referrals, cultivation advice and lobbying for more compassionate drug laws. Dr. Mike Alcalay is the cooperative's medical director. He has been HIV-positive since 1985 and says smoking marijuana has saved his life. The 57-year-old Alcalay is a good advertisement for the medical benefits of marijuana. He is on a harsh regimen of protease inhibitors. He takes 40 to 60 pills a day, including three experimental drugs, and he credits pot for keeping him alive and healthy. ``It's hard to define how because it helps in so many modes,'' he says. ``It gives you an appetite, eliminates queasiness, nausea and helps with pain. I call it a wonder drug.'' Alcalay says he smokes two or three joints a week. He doesn't like to get stoned, but concedes pot lifts his spirits as he fights off the effects of the disease. Prop. 215 was a crudely-written initiative, but it created a crack in the drug-war battlements and inspired a grassroots movement to legalize medical pot in six other states and probably Washington, D.C. (A disapproving Congress refuses to allow the votes to be counted, so the issue remains moot.) Advocates have targeted four more states for future marijuana initiatives. As with so many many social and intellectual trends, California is the innovator and leader in the medical marijuana movement. Some recreational dopers are sure to take advantage of any loosening of marijuana laws, but their misdemeanors should not deny medicinal pot to legitimate patients. California voters put the law on the books in 1996, and now the AG's Medical Marijuana Task Force has a rare opportunity to find a creative, compassionate and practical solution to a knotty problem neglected too long. WHERE MEDICINAL MARIJUANA LAWS HAVE TAKEN ROOT Since 1996, a majority of voters in seven states has approved ballot initiatives to remove criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana. A medical pot measure was on ballot in Washington, D.C., last year, but Congress refused to count the vote. Exit polls suggested it passed by 69 percent. - -- In recent years, measures to legalize medical marijuana have been approved in every state where the public has had a chance to vote on the issue. However, pot remains illegal under federal law. Four other states are targeted for similar measures. - -- U.S. Representative Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced a bill (HR 912) in March that would allow states to determine their own policies on medical marijuana. However, last year the House passed a nonbinding resolution opposed to medical pot laws. LEGAL California Oregon Washington Alaska PLANNED Hawaii Florida Maine Minnesota CHALLENGED Nevada Colorado Arizona Washington D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake