cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Limit Weighed





Medical Pot Limit Weighed
Posted by CN Staff on October 04, 2004 at 07:13:31 PT
By Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel 
Santa Cruz -- A proposed county ordinance outlining the amounts of pot that medical marijuana patients can possess could go further, but is a good law that deserves support, a leading area activist on the issue said Friday.The Board of Supervisors will consider a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would allow patients to keep 3 pounds of pot on hand, and even more if a doctor recommends it.
The ordinance would need a second round of approval to become law.The ordinance allows for possession of 3 pounds and, for growing purposes, a 100-square-foot garden canopy. The rules are based on suggestions from a team of physicians led by Dr. George Wolfe, who crafted the guidelines at the request of the Board of Supervisors.Patients could possess greater amounts with a physician’s signed recommendation.Valerie Corral of the Santa Cruz-based Wo/men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana said she would have preferred rules that allowed for a larger garden."It’s not exactly what we’d like to see happen," she said. "However, it’s good work. I’m grateful to the county and to Dr. Wolfe for their efforts."Corral said she would have liked to have seen a 120-square-foot canopy. Inexperienced medical growers may not necessarily yield 3 pounds from the canopy acceptable under the ordinance. Mold, bugs and other unexpected occurrences could diminish the harvest.Canopy refers to the leaf cover of a pot plant.Nonetheless, WAMM members are expected to be at Tuesday’s meeting to express support as are other activists on the issue."We ask that you as a body vote in support of the proposed MM (medical marijuana) ordinance and protect a patient’s right to use the medicine that a doctor finds safe and efficacious to recommend," Andrea Tischler, co- owner of the Compassion Flower Inn, wrote in a letter to the board.The ordinance is based on guidelines suggested by Wolfe, a former county health officer, and a team of area physicians. At the request of Sheriff Mark Tracy, the board asked the doctors earlier this year to research and craft standards.Tracy said the idea was to put decisions about appropriate amounts in the hands of the medical community rather than police."I don’t have a position one way or other (on the ordinance)," Tracy said Friday. "My initial position was this is a medical determination. This is the result of doctors making that determination."In August, the board went along with the physicians’ suggestions and directed county legal staff to write them into an ordinance. The lone dissenting vote on that was Supervisor Tony Campos. Attempts to contact Campos on Friday failed.The proposed ordinance comes in the wake of a state law, AB 420, passed in 2003 that set statewide guides on amounts patients could possess — 8 ounces of dried pot in addition to six mature plants or 12 immature plants. The law also allowed local governments to decide their own standards.Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: October 4, 2004Copyright: 2004 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Pictures From WAMM Protesthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/eventpics.htmCounty Readies Medical Pot Ruleshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19356.shtmlThree Pound Pot Limit Could Be Sethttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19329.shtmlDoctors To Decide on Legal Pot Dosages http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18890.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 05, 2004 at 12:43:56 PT
Breaking News from Mercury News
New Santa Cruz Law Allows Three Pounds of Pot Per HeadTue, Oct. 05, 2004 PATIENTS NEED PHYSICIAN'S OK TO QUALIFYBy Ken McLaughlin, Mercury NewsDeciding that state law doesn't protect medical marijuana patients enough, Santa Cruz County supervisors today unanimously passed a new ordinance that allows marijuana patients to possess up to three pounds of pot.Under the new law, the patients would be allowed to have even more than three pounds if a doctor says it's OK. And the three pound limit -- with a street value of up to $18,000 -- would only apply to flowers and buds, the most potent parts of the marijuana plant.A crowd of about 30 county residents -- most of them people with AIDS, cancer and other serious diseases -- cheered the decision, hugging each other as tears streamed down their faces.Only two other California counties -- Sonoma and Humboldt -- have taken such action.Santa Cruz County is now home to the only legal marijuana garden in the country -- an ironic twist to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's raid on a Davenport pot-growing farm in September 2002. Outrage from local residents and politicians resulted in a handout of medicinal marijuana on the steps of Santa Cruz City Hall, as six of seven city council members watched.And then a favorable court decision allowed the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz to replant their pot garden pending a decision from a higher court.Contact Ken McLaughlin at kmclaughlin mercurynews.com or (831) 423-3115. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/9842289.htm?1c
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Comment #2 posted by dr slider on October 04, 2004 at 14:45:47 PT:
Are you a doctor?
Sherrif Tracy's comment reminds me of the line in "Top Gun"" We (military types) don't make policy, we are instruments of that policy." Yet every time I see some municipality debating sane cannabis policy they go running to their cops and DAs to get the scoop. Whaaaa?
Off topic The FCC came into Santa Cruz to shut down (by stealing their equipment) a local pirate radio station SWAT and all, and the FCC derided the local police for not helping.
Three cheers for local cops who don't want to wallow in federal slime.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 04, 2004 at 11:00:59 PT
Related News Article from The Associated Press
Santa Cruz County To Address Medical Pot LawsOctober 4, 2004SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Three pounds of pot will likely become the legal stash limit for medical marijuana users in Santa Cruz County.The Board of Supervisors is to consider a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would allow patients to keep up to 3 pounds of marijuana on hand, along with a 100-square-foot garden canopy to grow the weed. A team of physicians came up with the amount.Patients could possess greater amounts with a physician's signed recommendation."We ask that you as a body vote in support of the proposed MM (medical marijuana) ordinance and protect a patient's right to use the medicine that a doctor finds safe and efficacious to recommend," Andrea Tischler, co- owner of the Compassion Flower Inn, wrote in a letter to the board.Valerie Corral of Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana said she would have preferred rules that allowed for a larger garden."Its not exactly what we'd like to see happen," Corral said. "However, it's good work. I'm grateful."Inexperienced medical growers may not necessarily yield 3 pounds from the canopy acceptable under the ordinance. Mold, bugs and other unexpected occurrences could diminish the harvest, Corral said, adding she preferred allowing a 120-square-foot canopy.The guidelines come in the wake of SB 420, written by state Sen. John Vasconcellos and passed by the Legislature in 2003. The law sought to set a standard on how much pot California patients could have on hand so police wouldn't be forced to make judgment calls.The law allowed patients to possess a half-pound, six mature plants and 12 immature plants. However, the measure also allowed local governments to set their own guidelines, and medical marijuana advocates here said the amounts set by SB 420 were inadequate for many.Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
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