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| Lawmaker Puts Pot Bill on 'Back Burner' |
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Posted by FoM on September 27, 2001 at 16:42:30 PT By Josh Richman, Staff Writer Source: Daily Review 
In the heated final moments of the state Legislature's session, a lawmaker seeking to create a photo identification registry for medical marijuana patients held back his bill, fearing an angry governor's veto. So California's medical marijuana policy remains status quo at least until January, when the Legislature will return to find the registry proposal right where it was left -- one step short of Gov. Gray Davis' desk. Better that than back at square one, said a spokeswoman for state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara. "We held it on the Senate floor specifically because John was not getting any sign from the governor that he was willing to work on it," spokeswoman Sue North said this week. "If we had sent it downstairs, the chances were very great it would've been vetoed." North suggested Davis already was angry with the Democratic-controlled Senate for failing to back his plan to save the beleaguered Southern California Edison power utility. Putting a contentious bill in front of a miffed governor -- a governor whose veto threat killed an almost identical bill two years ago, to boot -- would've been unwise, she said. But Davis spokesman Roger Salazar said his boss wouldn't let a grudge affect his decision: "He weighs each piece of legislation on its own merits, and any extracurricular activities that take place on the floor ... don't come into play when he makes decisions on bills." Davis is too busy now with hundreds of bills the Legislature sent him to take a position on one bill the Legislature didn't send him, Salazar added. "If they get to his desk, he'll take a look at them; if they don't, he won't." California voters in 1996 passed Proposition 215, permitting medical marijuana use without spelling out a way to get it or distinguish medical use from still-banned recreational use. Vasconcellos' Senate Bill 187 would create a voluntary ID-card registry for medical marijuana users and primary caregivers. County health departments would take applications and forward approvals to the state Department of Health Services, which would maintain the statewide registry. The photo ID cards would be a shield from prosecution. Vasconcellos, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and law enforcement agencies believe this procedure will give police a tool to separate medicinal from recreational marijuana use. Foes, including those who wrote Proposition 215, say it's an unwarranted invasion of privacy and an unneeded bureaucracy. The most recent legislative analysis estimates the bill would cost the state Department of Health Services and county health departments up to $2 million to develop and maintain the registry. The bill lets DHS charge application and renewal fees, the analysis also notes; the state Finance Department estimates about 10,000 people would pay a $100 to $200 fee, while 2,000 indigent patients would have their fees waived. The state Senate passed Vasconcellos' bill 23-8 in June, and the Assembly passed it 41-30 in the 2001 session's long, pell-mell, final day Sept. 14. Leaving the bill just short of Davis' desk leaves Vasconcellos room to maneuver come January, North said. "The governor may ask that it be taken back to committee for amendments," she said. "We have all the flexibility of being able to deal with it as we want to, as soon as we get feedback from the governor's people." Lockyer is OK with the bill's delay. "The attorney general agrees having a bit more time provides more of an opportunity to work out some of the problems," spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said Tuesday. "He has always been committed to trying to find a way to implement this initiative (Proposition 215) and will continue to do so." But Proposition 215's authors remain dead-set against this bill. "This bill is just as bad as it has always been -- it would just be a nightmare," said John Entwistle of Californians for Compassionate Use. "215 has been a raging success, legislatively and in the public's ability to grow marijuana and have it. He (Vasconcellos) should be working on expanding it, not contracting it." Millions of California voters approved Proposition 215, and now "this tiny cabal" -- led by Vasconcellos and consisting of many of the law enforcement authorities which originally opposed all medical marijuana -- is trying to ram new constraints down the public's throat, Entwistle said. "Veto the bill," he urged Davis. "It had no public input, it's expensive ... it's totally restrictive." Note: Marijuana registry faced strong chance of veto. Source: Daily Review, The (CA) Related Articles & Web Site: Medical Marijuana Information Links ID Card for Marijuana Patients Urged Police, Medical Marijuana Backers Seek Alliance Medical Pot Bill Aims To Clarify Usage Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #4 posted by herbdoc215 on September 28, 2001 at 20:32:20 PT:
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| The mass of our patients were in complete agreement with me that 187 was at least better than the many shades of gray that exist now. But we in the movement have still never dealt with the fact that the night 215 passed probably 2 million people went to bed that night sure they were fixin to be rich, the rock star syndrome developed and many were content to be big fish in their small ponds. Many people who grow watch their friends and neighbors get raided every year and never say a word until it's them who are busted. Until we address and mediated these things then we are always going to be seen and treated as fringe elements of society instead of the mass group we really are. There is enough suffering in USA now for 10 countries and their jailing people as fast as they can turn the key? I sure hope there is a country left to come home too. This whole system is just another Jim Crow racist ploy to subdue and subvert mass percentages of the population. Makes me want to scream! Steve Tuck [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by dddd on September 28, 2001 at 00:38:40 PT |
| ....Keep your eye on that "back burner".....It's where many items that are akward for any branch of government will end up,,,,,and the wonderful blanket excuse for any and everything,,will be the "War on Terror".......Talk about a great blanket excuse,,,it's to the point where all ya gotta say is;,,"suspected terrorist activity",,,and no more question will be asked...................... I feel sorry for the angry citizens of Greenland,,who have been left out of the war on terror!....If I was a terrorist,,I would start by moving to Greenland,,and try and get myself a Greenland passport.....dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by bruce42 on September 27, 2001 at 20:04:30 PT |
| That way, they can distribute all the MJ confiscated from illegal search 'n' seizures and get the campers really happy. Then while everyone is blasted out of their minds, blow their brains out and toss the bodies in a furnace- everyone dies happy, the druggies are toast, and we won't have to drill in the Artic for oil. Sorry for that, but really, how many steps are we away from such horrendous measures- we're already killing and jailing "drug offenders" and their families all in the name of stopping people from enjoying themselves. Now there's a cause to root for- NOT! Maybe we'll get lucky and the Dutch will stage a D-Day type invasion and liberate us first. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on September 27, 2001 at 16:55:08 PT |
| This is about a war against a group of people. Why be shy? Make us wear green patches and start building those camps. We can call it medical research, eh? [ Post Comment ] |
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