cannabisnews.com: Case For Medical Marijuana Case For Medical Marijuana Posted by FoM on March 20, 2001 at 07:43:46 PT Editorial Source: News-Press It's been nearly five years since California voters approved a ballot measure allowing the medical use of marijuana, yet needy patients as well as those who try to distribute the drug to them still face harassment and potential prosecution.Here in Santa Barbara, the nonprofit Compassionate Cannabis Center was recently booted from its Carrillo Street offices after the landlord grew uneasy about possible legal difficulties. As a result, the group's future is now up in the air -- along with the help it provided more than 100 local patients.The center's Carrillo Street landlord wasn't necessarily overreacting. There are legal ambiguities surrounding the issue of dispensing medical marijuana. Fortunately, there is a relatively simple way to clear a path through the confusion. The city could adopt a local ordinance that sets out procedures and guidelines for legitimate medical distribution of the drug.As it happens, the Santa Barbara City Council has been considering just such an ordinance since September, and at 1 p.m. today its three-member Ordinance Committee will be holding a hearing on the subject. The main item on the committee's agenda will be testimony by medical marijuana advocates in favor of a medical marijuana ordinance. We hope the committee -- along with the council as a whole -- listens carefully.Numerous anti-drug crusaders, led by federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey, insist that the medical benefits of marijuana are exaggerated at best and nonexistent at worst. That's nonsense.Research has clearly shown that marijuana can help ease the severe nausea that makes chemotherapy an intolerable ordeal for many cancer patients. Marijuana has also been shown to be similarly effective in treating the chronic pain and appetite loss associated with AIDS and multiple sclerosis.Based on these findings, California advocates of medical marijuana drafted what became known as Proposition 215, an eminently modest ballot measure designed to legalize the medical use of marijuana by seriously or terminally ill patients with the approval of a licensed physician. In 1996, Proposition 215 received 55 percent of the vote. The outcome may have seemed straightforward enough, but the result has been anything but.Federal law continues to outlaw marijuana -- medical or otherwise -- and in the absence of clear state or local guidelines implementing Prop. 215, the threat of arrest or other repercussions continues to hang over patients who use medical marijuana, distributors who provide it to them, and physicians who recommend its use. Across the state, a number of cities, including Arcata, Berkeley, San Jose and Santa Cruz, have attempted to clear the air by adopting sensible ordinances that establish guidelines for legitimate distribution networks such as co-ops -- and at the same time provide for the kind of police supervision necessary to prevent abuses.While they have been studying these approaches, Santa Barbara officials have delayed taking any such action themselves, saying they want to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a case currently before it involving a medical-marijuana distribution program supported by the city of Oakland. That's all well and good, but there's no telling when a decision in the Oakland case may come. There will undoubtedly be other legal challenges and delaying technicalities.In the meantime, hundreds of Santa Barbara cancer, AIDS and MS patients who could legitimately use medical marijuana languish in legal limbo. As Westside activist and likely mayoral candidate Bruce Rittenhouse has noted, there is nothing stopping the city from quickly adopting an ordinance to protect medical-marijuana users and distributors from arrest, while leaving the details -- about things such as what constitutes a proper distribution scheme -- for later.According to David Pryor, the founder of the Compassionate Cannabis Center, this sort of action is precisely what he and other legitimate distributors need to be able to serve their patients properly. In fact, working distribution systems are already in place for pharmaceuticals used every day for legitimate medical purposes.For the sake of those whose suffering could so easily be relieved, we hope council members consider the advocates' arguments -- and act accordingly, without delay.Source: Santa Barbara News-Press (CA)Published: March 20, 2001Copyright: 2001 Santa Barbara News-PressAddress: P.O. Box 1359, Santa Barbara, CA 93102Contact: editorial newspress.comWebsite: http://www.newspress.com/Related Article:Medical Marijuana Ordinance Urged http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9067.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 20, 2001 at 08:24:30 PT Thank you greenfox! I got it posted now!FindLaw Forum: Oregon Pot Case Turns on Technologyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9078.shtml FreedomToExhale [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by greenfox on March 20, 2001 at 07:44:44 PT FOM: check it out... you may wish to post this as it's about the supreme court ruling over the thermal...http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/03/columns/fl.aronson.techprivacy.03.19/-gf [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: