Medical Marijuana Update
...by Marie Mills
With no state guidelines established for the implementation of Prop. 215, there has been an effort among Humboldt County law enforcement officials to honor Prop. 215 to some extent. District Attorney Terry Farmer said the county allows the growing of 10 marijuana plants by a person with a doctor's recommendation. According to Farmer, the recommendation need not be made by a local doctor. However, the DA's office may look at the relationship between the doctor and the patient. He suggested that people growing medical marijuana inform Sgt. Steve Knight of the Humboldt County Drug Enforcement Unit of their intent to grow. In southern Humboldt, several people have informed Sgt. Mike Downey at the Garberville Sheriff's substation of their intent to grow. Sgt. Downey stipulates that he should have access to the grow garden for inspection. Farmer said if people are working with Sgt. Downey, it would not be necessary to inform Sgt. Knight.
In Arcata, the Humboldt Cannibis Center Trust has been identified as a model medical grow and distribution center. The center is a cooperative of medical marijuana patients. Arcata Police Chief Mel Brown issues photo identification cards bearing his signature to people who voluntarily register as medical marijuana patients. As a precaution against federal harassment, Brown keeps no record of who applies for an ID card, and has no file on those who use a card. The Humboldt Cannabis Center and Brown have a cooperative relationship in their efforts to implement Prop. 215.
Recently, Mendocino County's newly elected DA, Norm Vroman, and Sheriff, Tony Craver, visited the Humboldt Cannabis Center looking for a model for their county. They thought the Arcata identification system was very successful and they plan to announce a similar ID system for Mendocino County.
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is working on a state implementation plan that will be approved by Governor Gray Davis and that would avoid interference by federal officials. Lockyer has formed a task force of law enforcement officers and medical marijuana advocates to study the issue. The task force plans to look at Arcata as a model to see if what works for Arcata might also work for Los Angeles and other larger communities.
Lockyer, who supported Prop. 215 in 1996, along with Attorneys General from other western states that have passed medical marijuana propositions, lobbied in Washington DC with information released by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine that cannabis could be a valuable drug. There is consensus among both supporters and critics of Prop. 215 in California that federal rescheduling of marijuana is needed to permit the state to establish a legally regulated distribution system. National Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey has remained uncooperative, leaving distribution in the hands of unlicensed patients' cooperatives and other underground sources.
The Institute of Medicine's study was begun at the request of Barry McCaffrey. However, McCaffrey's Office of National Drug Control Policy stressed the problems with medical marijuana mentioned in the report, rather than the benefits the plant provides for certain illnesses. In a written response, the ONDCP declared, "The study concludes there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication." McCaffrey said there would be no relaxation of federal policy on medical marijuana.
Medical marijuana patients and providers continue to be arrested and prosecuted throughout the State of California. On January 29 Orange County Cannabis Cooperative director Marvin Chavez was sentenced to six years in prison by Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris. Chavez had been found guilty of providing small amounts of marijuana to undercover agents posing as patients, and mailing marijuana to a cancer patient. Patient David Herrick was sentenced to four years for supplying less than an ounce to fellow medical marijuana patients. After more than two years since passage of Prop. 215, there should be state guidelines in place in order that these unfair arrests and prosecutions of medical users and providers be eliminated.
This past April, the United Nations recommended medical marijuana studies. The board that oversees international treaties for the United Nations has recommended that governments sponsor impartial research into the medicinal benefits of marijuana. In response, the International Narcotics Control Board stressed that such research must not become a pretext for legalizing marijuana.
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