Berkeley may be the first city to declare itself a cannabis sanctuary city. A customer shops at marijuana dispensary MedMen in West Hollywood in January. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to declare the city a sanctuary for recreational marijuana, a move that may be the first of its kind. The resolution, adopted Tuesday, prohibits Berkeley's agencies and employees from using city resources to assist in enforcing federal marijuana laws or providing information on legal cannabis activities. [continues 367 words]
Berkeley Is Mandating That Poor People Can Get Free Medical Marijuana. S.F. Is Not on Board. Before there was medical marijuana, before there was legalization talk, there was free weed. There are a few happy stories to come out of the dark days of AIDS in the 1980s. One is the woman who roamed the ward at San Francisco General Hospital, where the gay men were dying in droves, giving out cannabis-laced brownies. [continues 766 words]
The Berkeley City Council, obviously driven more by passion than intellect, has unanimously decided to force pot shops to give 2 percent of their "medical marijuana" to those who can't afford to buy it (e.g., students, unemployed, addicts, et al). First of all, marijuana is not medicine. It is a drug of abuse. Second, many of those who can't afford to buy it already suffer from substance abuse. Third, the impacts on the brain and babies in the womb, and doubling of traffic deaths suggest it is more of a lethal weapon. Fourth, if they can't pass a drug test, they can't get a job, so handing out an illicit drug just exacerbates the problem. Let's hope they don't give alcohol to alcoholics to help treat their illness. Roger Morgan, Lincoln, Placer County [end]
Can you update us on some of the latest developments in the world of medical-cannabis research? - -Wanda Wellness Yes, I can! A new study by Israel's Meir Medical Center has found that inhaled cannabis is very effective for people with Crohn's disease. The study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, gave 11 people two joints per day for eight weeks. They also gave 10 other people placebo doobies. Out of the 11 people on the real weed, five of them saw their Crohn's disease go into complete remission, with the others reporting that their symptoms had been cut in half. All patients reported increased appetite and better sleep, with no adverse side effects. [continues 410 words]
A local medical cannabis business will be moving its operations out of Berkeley after the City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to declare it a public nuisance. As part of the declaration, the city ordered Perfect Plants Patient's Group -- also known as 3PG -- to shut down due to complaints from community members and multiple violations of the Berkeley Municipal Code, including operating in a commercial zone and being located within 600 feet of Longfellow Middle School. "I'm really disappointed that it took so long for the issue to be resolved," said Councilmember Darryl Moore. "It was an illegal operation from the very beginning, but it took 14 months, and that is just way too long." [continues 364 words]
One of Berkeley's medical cannabis collectives has closed and another is at risk of being shut down following concerns that the businesses were illegally operating as dispensaries rather than collectives. On Dec. 8, the city's code enforcement supervisor Gregory Daniel sent letters to the Perfect Plants Patient's Group and 40 Acres Medical Marijuana Growers Collective -- two of the city's several collectives - -- notifying them that they were in violation of the Berkeley municipal code because they were operating in a non-residential zoning district. [continues 322 words]
A recent federal decision determining that marijuana has no accepted medical use and should be classified as dangerous as heroin may prove to be another obstacle for Berkeley's Medical Cannabis Commission as it prepares for its first meeting. The commission, which will meet July 21 for the first time since its reconstitution, is responsible for making recommendations to the Berkeley City Council regarding the implementation of Measure T. The measure was approved by 64 percent of voters last November and allows for the opening of six 30,000-square-foot cultivation sites as well as a fourth dispensary while also calling for the commission's reconstitution. [continues 542 words]
California Is Not Just Deciding Whether Pot Should Be Legal. It's Determining the Shape of a Major New American Industry. When my wife and I bought a house last year in the little town of Ukiah, California, the first person to offer us advice about growing marijuana was our realtor. The house was a stolid 1909 prairie box that had been partitioned into four units, with a front porch, dark green trim, and a couple of fruit trees in the yard. It was charming, but we probably would have settled for a yurt. What mattered most to us was having a foothold in Mendocino County, a place we had long ago decided was the most beautiful in America. [continues 7597 words]
Dispensaries Are Split Over Marijuana Production and Tax Proposals Berkeley residents will vote on two ballot measures Tuesday that could lead to a greatly expanded medical cannabis industry in the city - and hundreds of thousands of new dollars for the city's coffers. Measure T would increase the number of locations where marijuana is sold from three to four, and also permit six 30,000-square-foot indoor growing areas in the city's industrial zone in West Berkeley. These places would not be open to the public, but would be used to grow cannabis, test it, distill it into tinctures or creams, or cook it into food products. [continues 1035 words]
Leslie Hennessy, owner of Hennessy's Wines & Specialty Foods in San Francisco, waved his hand over a glass case that sits next to his cash register, across from the deli section where he sells cheeses, gourmet salads and olives. Inside the case were colorful boxes of Macanudo and Romeo y Julieta cigars. But Mr. Hennessy imagines that the case will soon contain another smokable product - marijuana, packaged attractively because "a rolled up joint in a baggy isn't going to do it," he said. [continues 1107 words]
In light of the Berkeley City Council's proposed ballot measure to create seven new "cannabusiness" facilities, the Medical Cannabis Commission - which will likely be reconstituted under the measure - met Thursday to develop a comprehensive rubric to evaluate applications for facility permits. In July, the council placed a measure on the November ballot that would allow for six 30,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facilities and a fourth dispensary within the city. Anticipating a flood of applications, the council asked the commission to develop a set of standards by which it could evaluate applicants. [continues 416 words]
Is the Proposition 19 pot initiative going to harm or help California? Proponents like Dale Sky Jones, executive chancellor of Oakland's Oaksterdam University, contend passage of the proposition will save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars now wasted on enforcing the failed prohibition of cannabis. But Sacramento attorney John Lovell, whose current clients include the California Police Chiefs Association, points to a coalition of law enforcement organizations and argues that the threat of losing significant federal funding should be a deal-killer in itself. [continues 627 words]
Oakland's Massive Indoor Medical Cannabis Grows Will Consume Huge Amounts Of Electricity. But Will The City Make Sure They Don't Add To Greenhouse-gas Emissions? Cannabis is usually considered to be a "green" product, but when Oakland's four giant indoor medical marijuana growing operations receive permits early next year, they could become the largest energy consumers in the city. They also could become the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Oakland - unless the city tightly regulates them. [continues 770 words]
Oakland's new medical marijuana ordinance permitting four "large-scale" growing facilities could be a game-changer for Bay Area cannabis cultivators as the new businesses' economies of scale could allow them to drastically increase production and lower the price of certain strains of cannabis. Berkeley growers hoping to take advantage of Berkeley's ballot measure authorizing six permitted growing locations - capped at 30,000 square feet each - will now have to take into account competition with Oakland's four facilities, which have no size limit. [continues 660 words]
Editors, Daily Planet: Please support medical cannabis in Berkeley by voting yes on Measure JJ. For many people in Berkeley living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, chronic pain, and other afflictions, the best way to ease their suffering is with doctor-recommended medical cannabis. Berkeley's three medical cannabis collectives have provided medicine and other wellness services for over seven years. Today these collectives are at risk. New development plans in Berkeley threaten to shut them down, and the city lacks a proper land-use procedure to relocate them. [continues 147 words]
City Resolves to Guarantee Access to Drug The Berkeley City Council unanimously passed a plan this week to help get medical marijuana to patients if Drug Enforcement Administration raids' shut down any of the city-permitted dispensaries. The resolution passed Tuesday night declares Berkeley a sanctuary for medical marijuana users and distributors and commits the city to "uphold patients' rights to safe access to medical marijuana" should the DEA move on one of two dispensaries in town. What that means is up to debate at the moment, but the city would at least help a new distributor get started or help one restart after a DEA raid, council members and activists said. The DEA has shut down five medical marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area in the past year. [continues 98 words]
Berkeley City Council members unanimously approved a resolution last night to declare Berkeley a sanctuary for medicinal marijuana in the event of federal interference with dispensaries. The resolution, which was received with overwhelming support and applause from the audience, opposes attempts by the Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in Berkeley, and urges city, county and state departments to not cooperate in the event that a raid occurs. By claiming itself as a sanctuary, Berkeley have committed to ensuring that residents are provided access to medicinal marijuana if dispensaries in the city are shut down. [continues 345 words]
LOS ANGELES -- Pitting itself against the U.S. government, the Los Angeles City Council approved plans Wednesday to limit new medical-marijuana dispensaries, regulate existing ones and urge a moratorium on recent clinic raids by federal agents. Despite warnings that it is treading on legally treacherous ground, the council voted 10-2 to adopt the plan amid concerns that hundreds of illegal clinics have sprouted up since 1996, when California voters approved Proposition 215 allowing the use of medicinal marijuana. "When (the) law was first passed, we had two clinics operating in the city," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who proposed the plan to regulate operators. "Now we have more than 400. [continues 639 words]
The Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency seized the assets of a Berkeley marijuana club Tuesday, following a raid of its sister club in Los Angeles. The Berkeley Patients Group, one of three medical marijuana clubs in Berkeley, serves about 3,000 people in the East Bay. Medical marijuana is against federal law but California, under Proposition 215, allows dispensaries to operate. "It's completely scandalous," said Becky DeKeuster, Berkeley Patients Group community liaison. "But we're determined to stay open and assist our patients in any way we can." [continues 134 words]
A Berkeley-based medical marijuana advocacy group filed a legal petition against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Monday, in an attempt to force the department to change its stringent policies on the drug. The group, Americans for Safe Access, argue that the department's stance on medical marijuana violates the Data Quality Act, which requires the federal government to use reliable scientific information in decision-making. In 2001, the department concluded that "scientific and medical evaluation reaffirms expressly that marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." [continues 363 words]
Proposal Would Keep Medical Marijuana Clinics Away From Schools BERKELEY -- City officials want to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries to three, hoping to avoid a mecca of Berkeley pot clubs similar to Oakland's once-thriving "Oaksterdam" area. The plan, by Councilmembers Linda Maio and Margaret Breland, would keep medical marijuana dispensaries away from schools and prohibit them from clustering in one area of the city. With Oakland now limiting its medical marijuana clubs to four, Berkeley city leaders, who will tonight consider limiting the number of dispensaries, aren't the only ones scrambling to keep pot clubs out of their city. [continues 563 words]
Proposal's Critics Call Fear of Oaksterdam-Type Proliferation Unwarranted BERKELEY -- City officials want to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries to three, hoping to avoid a mecca of Berkeley pot clubs similar to Oakland's once-thriving "Oaksterdam" area. The plan, by Councilmembers Linda Maio and Margaret Breland, would keep medical marijuana dispensaries away from schools and prohibit them from clustering in one area of the city. With Oakland now limiting its medical marijuana clubs to four, Berkeley city leaders -- who will tonight consider limiting the number of dispensaries -- aren't the only ones scrambling to keep pot clubs out of their city. [continues 563 words]
After months of debate, Berkeley City Council formally opposed two controversial initiatives to decriminalize prostitution and to increase the number of marijuana plants allowed for in-home growth at Tuesday's council meeting. Angel's Initiative to decriminalize prostitution and the Patients' Access to Medical Cannabis Act of 2004 to relax limits on medical marijuana growth will come to the voters, as both gained enough signatures to land on the November ballot without council approval. The decision came after the city manager released two reports detailing safety concerns associated with the initiatives two weeks ago. [continues 111 words]
As a medical cannabis patient (quadriplegic) fortunate enough to have a doctor's recommendation for the past five years, I feel compelled to comment on recent developments in our community regarding the cultivation and dispensing of medical marijuana. On April 27 our City Council unfortunately tabled proposed amendments to the previous 2001 medical cannabis initiative. Their lack of decision has prompted a voter initiative drive and the rights of patients like myself have been overlooked and ill-served. I believe this process can be avoided with reconsideration by the Berkeley City Council. [continues 633 words]
Medical marijuana patients, supporters want city to match 72-plant rule in effect in Oakland BERKELEY -- Medical cannabis users and advocates are lobbying city leaders to increase Berkeley's indoor marijuana plant limit from 10 to 72, which is the amount allowed in Oakland. Advocates say residents with cancer, AIDS, chronic pain, anorexia, glaucoma, migraine headaches and other severe illnesses need more than 10 indoor plants to cultivate marijuana for medical treatment. Berkeley allows 10 indoor and outdoor plants under a March 2001 ordinance that was brokered under political compromise. The Berkeley City Council will consider an increase proposal Tuesday. [continues 719 words]
Berkeley's medical cannabis advocates issued a clear threat to the Berkeley City Council at last Tuesday night's (April 20) regular meeting: If the council doesn't pass Councilmember Kriss Worthington's medical marijuana plant increase measure next week, the activists will go to the voters next November with a ballot initiative that would potentially make Berkeley the most pot-friendly city in California. At the same meeting, the council decided to reverse the "ex parte" rule that prevents members from talking to developers or residents about pending development projects which might ultimately come before the council. In a 5-3-2 vote (Bates, Maio, Spring, Breland, Worthington aye, Hawley, Olds no, Shirek, Wozniak abstain), the council approved a recommendation that ex parte contacts should be allowed on such projects, with the provision that each council, board and commission member must document and disclose all contacts before the beginning of a public hearing. [continues 1011 words]
James Blair is still aching from a misstep while on a vacation in Belize. He dived off a rock, miscalculated the water depth and snapped his neck on impact. "Imagine diving into your bathtub," he said. While in intensive care in Miami, his doctor recommended that he try marijuana to ease the pain. "I thought it was B.S., hippie medicine," he said. But after he tried it for the first time, he found it eased his pain. "After the first inhale, my muscle spasms started to relax," he said [continues 507 words]
Five UC Berkeley Students Arrested in Sacramento Protest SACRAMENTO-Five UC Berkeley students were arrested yesterday during a protest of the federal government's ban on medical marijuana use at a courthouse in Sacramento. Participants blocked the Federal Courthouse's doors "as a sign of solidarity" with those who have been jailed for possessing marijuana for medical use, said UC Berkeley junior Scarlett Swerdlow, a rally organizer who was one of 29 people arrested. The demonstration followed a rally at the state Capitol attended by hundreds from around the country, including participants from Berkeley and the university. [continues 406 words]
Amid Protests, Lockyer Urges Feds to Target 'Worthy Priorities' OAKLAND -- Protesters planted marijuana sprigs in a concrete planter outside the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Friday, decrying federal agents' raid of a medical marijuana facility near Santa Cruz one day earlier. As similar protests occurred in San Francisco and San Jose, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer wrote to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Drug Enforcement Administration director Asa Hutchinson calling Thursday's raid "a disheartening addition to a growing list of provocative and intrusive incidents of harassment by the DEA in California." [continues 566 words]
Last summer, narcotics agents reported finding 105 indoor marijuana plants at a San Juan Ridge home. Three people said it was their medicine, but they were charged with cultivation and their trial is approaching. Last month, two men were charged after agents reported finding 185 plants in Historic Five Mile House on Highway 20. A defense lawyer said the crop benefited at least five patients. Last week, agents reported finding 106 outdoor plants at a Nevada City-area home. An ongoing investigation is focusing on how many people had medical recommendations connected with the garden. [continues 510 words]
Measure Passes Council Smoothly The Berkeley City Council quietly and unanimously passed a resolution affirming the city's support for medical marijuana Tuesday night. Against the recommendation of City Manager Weldon Rucker, the council directed the Berkeley Police Department not to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration in investigations of medical marijuana clubs. In a meeting dominated by the controversial "Crisis in the Middle East" proposal, few in the packed council chambers noticed when Mayor Shirley Dean moved the marijuana resolution to the front of the agenda, where it was dispatched without discussion. [continues 492 words]
Plea Bargain May Implicate Oakland Activist Ed Rosenthal OAKLAND -- An Oakland man arrested in February's federal raids of Bay Area marijuana sites pleaded guilty Tuesday to cultivation and money laundering charges that could put him in federal prison for life. But James Halloran, 61, might not serve a day behind bars. Under his plea bargain -- filed under seal but discussed in court Tuesday -- he might give prosecutors information useful in their case against others who were arrested Feb. 12, including well-known marijuana writer and activist Ed Rosenthal, 56, of Oakland. [continues 662 words]
City Manager Says Proposal Goes Too Far After a series of high-profile federal raids of Bay Area medical marijuana clubs, the Berkeley City Council will consider a proposal tomorrow that would end police cooperation with Drug Enforcement Administration investigations or actions against local clubs. The recommendation, submitted by the Police Review Commission, takes direct aim at the enforcement of federal laws against medical marijuana, which is legal under California law. "We are telling the DEA to butt out," said Commissioner Michael Sherman. [continues 454 words]
Federal Law Complicates Issue Tired of the haze of legal issues surrounding the distribution of medical marijuana, a medical rights advocacy group wants states to be directly involved in the distribution of medical marijuana. Americans for Medical Rights, the organization that sponsored Proposition 215--the medical marijuana initiative--is proposing a ballot measure to set up a state-controlled network of medical marijuana distributors. The proposal has drawn wide support from Berkeley marijuana users who are likewise frustrated by legal complications resulting from the federal law that bans the drug. [continues 465 words]
Chris Conrad: Greetings! I'm here trying to sort out the screens, but I found this part at least. I'm just not sure where to start reading, since there's already quite a bit of banter going! Richard Lake: Hi, Chris! Glad you made it. A lot going on. But there is no real reason to go back into the past here. Just start with the questions you see now. Any comments on the hemp action, or on the plans to support the cannabis clubs??? [continues 3538 words]
When Kevin Sabet arrived at the University of California at Berkeley four years ago, the campus was crawling with beer drinkers, pot smokers and dabblers in strange, psychedelic drugs. Today, well, today it's pretty much the same, though Sabet did give changing it the old college try. A few days into his freshman year, Sabet founded Citizens for a Drug-Free Berkeley, an organization that seemed to hold as much promise as the Coalition for a Wine-Free France. With no outside funding, he took to the pulpit, proselytizing at parties, showing up at nightclubs with photocopies of CAT scans of the human brain on ecstasy. [continues 724 words]
Monday's Supreme Court ruling against the use of of marijuana for medical purposes should not be the federal government's final say on the issue. Medical marijuana advocates need to work with lawmakers to resolve an issue that will not be as easily dismissed on a local level as it was on a federal one. The Court's 8-0 ruling goes against voters in eight states who have approved of the use of medical marijuana. We are in no position to deny people dying of AIDS their chosen medication - -- and neither is the federal government. Supporters of medical marijuana need to urge their legislators to work to uphold the will of the people. [continues 161 words]
A Berkeley City Council ordinance says 10 cannabis plants per patient is enough medicine, but some 200 protesters demonstrating outside a City Council meeting Tuesday said it's not. "The City Council is attempting to (enact) the drug war on us," said David Taylor, of the Alliance of Berkeley Patients, addressing the crowd. "The city government cannot criminalize us." The Alliance is calling for the city to allow patients to possess 46 flowering plants and 96 plants in other stages of the plants' cycle. That allows for various cultivation problems and patients' individual needs, which advocates say can exceed the 1.5-2.5 pound limit and the 10 plant maximum. [continues 603 words]
City Ordinance Based On Medical Research, Health Officials Say Berkeley's newly adopted medical marijuana ordinance once again became the center of debate last night, when 180 patients, doctors, and activists protested the amount of legal possession. Protesters argued that the ordinance, passed by the Berkeley City Council in March, is too restrictive. The demonstration took place in front of Old City Hall an hour before the council meeting. The current ordinance, which allows patients to grow up to 10 marijuana plants, makes Berkeley one of the 10 most restrictive cities in the state, protesters said. They upheld that the City Council has criminalized the medicinal use of marijuana, despite the implementation of Proposition 215, which legalized its use for medicinal purposes. Cities across the state have struggled to adopt similar ordinances since the proposition passed last fall. Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the plant limit needs to be reviewed. [continues 463 words]
(U-WIRE) BERKELEY, Calif. -- Berkeley residents who rely on marijuana for medical purposes say they are shortchanged by a new ordinance outlining the amount of legal possession. The decision comes as debate over the extent to which California should permit medical marijuana sweeps the nation. Oakland currently has a case before the Supreme Court, which will force the justices to determine what rights patients have in accessing the drug. The Berkeley City Council adopted the Medical Marijuana Ordinance last Tuesday, which allows patients to possess 2.5 pounds of dried marijuana and grow up to 10 plants. The council resoundingly dismissed a dueling proposal calling for 144 plants -- deemed "too liberal" by many city officials. [continues 526 words]
The Berkeley City Council voted this week to adopt a more conservative version of a medicinal marijuana ordinance, dashing the hopes of activists who say the new law doesn't allow users to grow enough plants to soothe chronic health conditions. The council on Tuesday voted 8-1 -- with Councilwoman Dona Spring dissenting -- to permit medicinal marijuana users to grow 10 plants per year. If grown outside, this would produce 2.5 pounds of dried marijuana and 1.5 pounds if grown indoors. [end]
The Berkeley City Council settled the burning question last night of how much stash is too much stash for medical purposes. By an 8-to-1 vote, the council allowed a "qualified patient" to possess as many as 10 marijuana plants and 2 1/2 pounds of dried marijuana, disappointing more than two dozen medical marijuana activists who had urged the council to adopt a more liberal limit. "As one who has seen medical marijuana work and who has also been witness to illegal use of marijuana, it's hard to say which way we should go," said Councilwoman Margaret Breland, one of four council members who initially favored the generous limit but accepted the lower amount because they lacked a majority vote. [continues 603 words]
A measure scheduled to come before the Berkeley City Council tonight that is designed to reduce the severity of punishment for marijuana users was endorsed yesterday by California's only Green Party assemblymember. Audie Bock, an assemblymember from Oakland, announced her support her support of The Kinder and Safer Streets Act. If passed, the measure would also reduce the number of marijuana-related arrests in Berkeley. The Peace and Justice Commission is planning to submit a resolution to the council tonight, urging the passage of the measure. [continues 169 words]
Berkeley's national reputation as a bastion for crazy ideas materialized last night when the Associated Press wire service reported a satire of the city in a straightlaced manner. "BERKELEY, Calif. -- The town where heiress Patricia Hearst Shaw was kidnapped 25 years ago should apologize for the suffering she endured at the hands of her abductors, a city councilman says," read the AP report, with the headline, "Berkeley City Councilman proposes official apology to Patricia Hearst." The article focused on a proposal by Councilmember Kriss Worthington to have the city of Berkeley "acknowledge and apologize" to the kidnapping victim. [continues 411 words]
CODY'S bookstore owner Andy Ross used to call the section of Telegraph Avenue where his store is ``the Rodeo Drive of intellectuals.'' This year, Ross started to describe his 'hood as a place of ``social collapse'' and of a ``reign of terror.'' Cody's has weathered its share of interesting times. In 1968, the bookstore became a first-aid station for tear-gassed anti-war protesters. When other bookstores, cowed by terrorists' threats, removed copies of Salman Rushdie's ``Satanic Verses,'' Ross continued to sell the book. Cody's was firebombed. Ross still sold the book. [continues 516 words]
You're not alone, Joe Camel. The Budweiser Frogs -- and their lizard antagonists -- are feeling the heat, too. With the federal government threatening to ban tobacco advertisements deemed appealing to young people, Bay Area children's advocates are pushing for a wide range of restrictions on alcohol ads as well: In Santa Cruz County, they recently won an unprecedented pledge from two Watsonville liquor distributors to halt Halloween-oriented alcohol promotions. Now community organizers are pressuring for an even broader year-round ban, in part because of recent claims that a teenager was hired to boost beer sales by flirting with patrons at bars. [continues 1207 words]
SACRAMENTOA bill aiming to make it easier for sick people to buy marijuana for medical use passed its first test in the state Legislature on Wednesday. After a hearing featuring passionate testimony on the perils and health benefits of marijuana, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee sent the bill onward with a 52 vote. The bill seeks to guarantee safe and affordable marijuana for the bill as allowed under Proposition 215, passed by 56% of the voters in November. It would create a 12member task force to design a distribution network making marijuana available to those in need. [continues 519 words]
SACRAMENTOA bill aiming to make it easier for sick people to buy marijuana for medical use passed its first test in the state Legislature on Wednesday. After a hearing featuring passionate testimony on the perils and health benefits of marijuana, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee sent the bill onward with a 52 vote. The bill seeks to guarantee safe and affordable marijuana for the ill as allowed under Proposition 215, passed by 56% of the voters in November. It would create a 12member task force to design a distribution network making marijuana available to those in need. Now, cancer patients and others seeking relief through marijuana must grow their own or turn to backalley dealers and buyers' clubs that have sprouted in several cities. Prices vary wildly, and the quest for marijuana can be taxing on the ill. The legislation also would create a Medical Marijuana Research Center at the University of California and allocate $6 million over three years for research on the health risks and merits of marijuana. Scientists testifying Wednesday said such research is vital to resolve lingering questions about marijuana's effectiveness and how best to administer it for ailments ranging from glaucoma to cancer and chronic pain. Such questions were at the heart of the debate over Proposition 215, with advocates touting medical marijuana as a proven tonic and opponents disputing its worth. Dr. Igor Grant, professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, urged approval of the bill to resolve that disagreement once and for all. "My concern is that the pyrotechnics of the marijuana debate not leave behind two unintended victimsthe patients who are suffering and the truth," Grant said. With more research, "California can lead the way from opinion to fact," he said. Sen. John Vasconcellos (DSanta Clara), the bill's author, echoed that argument, saying his goal is to "clear the air on all the controversy." "It's a very simple bill," he said. "The way people are reacting, you'd think it was the end of Western civilization if a sick person smokes a joint." Vasconcellos was referring to the passionate testimony by opponents who predicted that making medical marijuana available is the first step down the road to legalizing other drugs. One of those foes, Art Croney, testified Wednesday that marijuana is "quack medicine" and a "cruel hoax on the suffering people of California." "Marijuana is not a medicine," said Croney, a lobbyist for the Committee on Moral Concerns. "It is a drug that makes people think they feel better." Joni Commons, a mother of four from San Jose, acknowledged that marijuana has indeed made her feel better, dramatically reducing the nausea associated with the chemotherapy she receives for breast cancer. "I was about ready to give up on my treatment because the quality of life just wasn't there," Commons told the committee. Now, she can take three small puffs of marijuana and "suddenly the nausea is gone. You can even eat a little something," she said. The legislation has been endorsed by a wide variety of groups, from AIDS Project Los Angeles to the California Nurses Assn. and the Berkeley City Council. Opponents include the California Narcotics Officers Assn., the California State Sheriffs Assn. and Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren. A representative for Lungren, who campaigned vigorously against Proposition 215, testified against the billbut not for the reasons voiced by other opponents. Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. John Gordnier said the legislation goes beyond what was permitted by voters. Vasconcellos called such criticism "blatantly dishonest," noting that Lungren had fought Proposition 215 on other grounds from the start. "First he opposes 215 and now he wants to protect it? the senator said. Copyright Los Angeles Times [end]
