cannabisnews.com: Proposed Medical Pot Guidelines Fair, Merciful Proposed Medical Pot Guidelines Fair, Merciful Posted by CN Staff on July 13, 2004 at 08:14:02 PT By Ellen Komp Source: Times-Standard Proposition 215 was passed by a majority of California voters in 1996, exempting patients with a doctor's recommendation from state laws against the possession and cultivation of marijuana. The law places no limits on the amount of marijuana a patient may possess or cultivate, but countless cases have wound their way through California courts since the law's passage, establishing amounts a jury will accept as reasonable for medical use. When District Attorney Paul Gallegos took office, he reviewed those cases and established reasonable, scientifically derived prosecutorial guidelines in keeping with the surrounding counties of Sonoma, Mendocino and Del Norte. On Jan. 1, California law SB 420 took effect, establishing more restrictive state baseline amounts with the proviso that cities and counties can enact overriding ordinances. Humboldt County supervisors will vote today on an ordinance to do just that. It has guidelines similar to Gallegos' and to the ordinance introduced by Supervisor Rodoni late last year. At that time, the supervisors appointed a task force to study the issue and make recommendations to the board. After hearing from law enforcement, the schools, probation, labor, hospice, patients and caregivers, the task force compromised on a yearly guideline of 3 pounds of dried marijuana per patient. Patients had asked for 6 pounds (based on the amount the federal government supplies to patients in a research program); caregivers asked for 4.5 pounds and were willing to compromise as low as 2 pounds; and law enforcement and the schools never budged from the SB 420 minimum guideline of 8 ounces. Rather than setting a guideline for the number of marijuana plants that can be grown, the task force recommended a maximum 100-square-foot plant canopy for cultivation. This figure is based on DEA studies that have determined it is growing area, not plant numbers, that best determine yield. Four out of five amendments recommended by the schools were adopted by the task force and appear in the proposed ordinance. These reaffirm protections in SB 420 against marijuana use within 1,000 feet of schools, and allow schools and colleges to set policies of their own. The ordinance states it does not require places of employment to accommodate medical marijuana use, and it does not authorize a patient to use medical marijuana while in a motor vehicle that is being operated, or in any place where smoking is prohibited by law. Sheriff Philp has said that his deputies are continuing to enforce the district attorney's original guidelines, which match the pending ordinance's, until such time as the board takes action on the matter. Apparently, allowing patients these amounts has not adversely impacted public safety. In fact, it might improve it, by allowing law enforcement to focus on violent crimes instead.On July 1, a jury in Eureka acquitted a local man on sales charges and failed to convict him on possession charges after he grew 108 plants for medical use. Since police seized the man's plants, he potentially has grounds for a lawsuit against the county for the cost of his lost property and court costs. In a situation where the county is facing an $8.4 million budget shortfall, and we are forced to cut home health care for the elderly, mental health services for children, drug and alcohol treatment programs, and library hours, it makes sense to conserve our resources by leaving small-time medical marijuana growers alone. The best way to do that is to enact this ordinance. If the board does not act, we will be stuck with SB 420's arbitrary plant numbers of 6 mature or 12 immature plants, leaving legitimate patients subject to harassment and the county wide open to litigation. The American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Bar Association, the American Nurses Association, and the American Public Health Association all support medical marijuana, as do the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the National Council of Churches, the National Progressive Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the United Methodist Church. SB 1494, a bill awaiting signature by Gov. Schwarzenegger, makes clear that no governmental body has the constitutional authority to limit the amount of marijuana a patient may possess or grow for medical use. The issue is not how much patients can have. The issue how much they can have without having to come to court to justify it. The ordinance before the board is a practical and merciful one, and it should be adopted for the good of all in the county. Ellen Komp is a member of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project, a nonprofit group based in Redway. She lives in Garberville. Source: Times-Standard (CA)Author: Ellen KompPublished: Tuesday, July 13, 2004Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc.Contact: editor times-standard.comWebsite: http://www.times-standard.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmMedical Marijuana Ordinance Back Before Boardhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19169.shtmlMedical Pot Restrictions Up in Smoke? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15421.shtmlDA Upping Medical Marijuana Limit to 99 Plants http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15331.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 23:04:44 PT ElPatricio and BGreen ElPatricio I'm sorry for the problem. I've had a couple more people recently contact me and I've not been able to figure out what was wrong and why they couldn't post. I hope Matt has found out what is or was wrong. I don't know how to fix things on CNews like that. It's been a real worry for me.BGreen it's good to see you back. I'd feel lost if I was off line for 3 days too. I'm glad Pot TV is back. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by BGreen on July 13, 2004 at 22:49:11 PT Pot-TV is back up I was getting worried. I was offline for three days due to a lightning strike and then Pot-TV wasn't there when I came back.I'm glad to be back amongst friends.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by ElPatricio on July 13, 2004 at 22:27:47 PT Lurker Now A Poster Thanks, FoM. I'll credit the unseen hand of Matt E. for straightening out the registration glitch.I never did post the comment about lung cancer, but I'll look for the opportunity to trot out that gem and others.You can see that I at least figured out the paragraph format. Every trip starts, as they say, with a single step.See you online! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 20:48:02 PT ElPatricio I'm glad to see you can post now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by ElPatricio on July 13, 2004 at 19:54:40 PT: Just Victory Congratulations to Ellen Komp of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project for her timely column on Humboldt County's medical-marijuana guidelines. The Safe Access Now guidelines, developed by Chris Conrad, are based on the amount of federal cannabis that NIDA distributes to the surviving participants in the Compassionate Investigative New Drug program, as well as the DEA's own study of the expected yields from a pot garden. Compare that to the miserly SB 420 limits of 6 mature plants, 12 immature plants and 8 ounces of manicured bud. As soon as an outdoor grower harvests his plants, he is over the SB 420 limit. Indoor growers cannot produce enough medicine to treat chronic illnesses. Komp called the SB 420 guidelines "arbitrary." Unfortunately, they reflect the narc cynicism of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which refused to negotiate a fair guideline during Lockyer's final task force meeting. AG spokesmen have said they could not confirm the NIDA amount, so substituted a Marin County guideline. Only trouble is that the Marin guideline was found to be unworkable. So the BNE narcs substituted a standard that no longer exists for a standard they couldn't find and wouldn't accept. Typical. Again, congratulations to the Humboldt patient and activist community for a clean victory. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 12:52:41 PT Good News DPFCA: Humbolt Unanimously Adopts SAN Guidelines Dear All, This is just news flash that the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the "Task Force" recommendations regarding MMJ. Patients are allowed 3 LB's and 100 square feet of flowering garden space under the new ordinance. Many thanks to Chris Conrad, Eric Heimstadt, and so many others who worked tirelessly to have the Board adopt this sensible ordinance. Cities will not be bound by the ordinance and some cities such as Fortuna will continue to enforce the minimum guidelines in SB420. Way to go Humboldt! Yours,Dr. Jay [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 10:48:15 PT siege That's good to read. I'm sure it is a glitch that Pot-TV is or was down. These computers are wonderful but boy oh boy can they be tempermental. Much like how I can be! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by siege on July 13, 2004 at 09:58:13 PT YES working good [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 09:53:50 PT siege It was down last night and I just checked and it's still down. Is Cannabis Culture working? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by siege on July 13, 2004 at 09:50:13 PT two days time out [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by breeze on July 13, 2004 at 09:44:47 PT unrelated question Is there anyone else who cannot access POT-TV.net ? I keep getting a cannot find page... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 13, 2004 at 09:09:47 PT News Brief from The Sacramento Bee Medical Pot Case Back To Trial CourtBy Claire CooperPublished: Tuesday, July 13, 2004SAN FRANCISCO - An appeals court Monday ordered reconsideration of Bryan Epis' marijuana-growing conviction once the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a civil suit questioning the power of federal authorities to prosecute noncommercial, intrastate medical pot activity. The high court's decision is expected by early next year.Under the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order, Epis could be granted a new trial in which a jury would decide factual issues not presented to the jurors who found him guilty, including whether his Chico Medical Marijuana Caregivers was a commercial operation.Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/9981614p-10903169c.html Bryan Epis Pics & News Articles [ Post Comment ] Post Comment