cannabisnews.com: Medicinal Marijuana Task Force Approved





Medicinal Marijuana Task Force Approved
Posted by FoM on May 22, 2001 at 20:10:55 PT
Task Force Proposed To Help Patients Understand 
Source: SanDiegoChannel
The San Diego City Council agreed Wednesday to form a task force to study how medical marijuana use might be implemented in the city. "What we're approving today is a task force to see if we can come up with some solutions to this complicated situation of having a state and federal government that have told us two different things," Mayor Dick Murphy said. Councilwoman Toni Atkins said that San Diego is "on the cutting edge of this national debate," citing a study of medical marijuana use being conducted at UC San Diego. 
People with AIDS, cancer and other illnesses say that marijuana helps relieve nausea and other symptoms and can improve appetite. Task force member St. Claire Adams, who has had AIDS for 16 years and is statewide co-chair of the California HIV Advocacy Coalition, said that seriously ill patients are putting themselves in danger when they buy pot. "Many of these people have been forced to seek this medicine from dangerous black market street thugs in very dangerous parts of town," Adams said. "In addition, these people also put themselves at risk if they purchase marijuana from the black market and it is contaminated with mold from improper growing and harvesting, or worse -- finding it laced with some dangerous designer drug," he added. Proposition 215, passed by California voters in 1996, allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to grow and use marijuana for pain relief without state penalties. But those activities still violate federal law -- even for the ill, as the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed last week. The Proposition 215 Implementation Task Force will be made up of medical marijuana advocates, doctors, patients, attorneys and law enforcement professionals. They will monitor local law enforcement efforts and medical research related to medical use of marijuana. The group also will support state legislation to help local governments respond to Proposition 215. Councilman George Stevens, who also is a minister, said he hopes that his support of the task force isn't misinterpreted. "I believe that marijuana will be a help to those persons who have ailments (for which) they do not find relief in any other medication," Stevens said. The task force will give its first report to the council's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee by June 20. San Diego, CaliforniaSource: TheSanDiegoChannel.com (CA)Published: May 22, 2001 Copyright: 2001 by TheSanDiegoChannel.comWebsite: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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