Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Examiner Contact: http://www.examiner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389 Author: Ethan Fletcher, of The Examiner Staff REEFER PROGRESS Meeting On S.F. Pot Farming As Congress Considers States'rights Bill. A collection of politicians, doctors and activists as well as growers, patients and friends of patients gathered Tuesday to discuss Proposition S, an attempt to strengthen San Francisco's support of medicinal marijuana against federal intervention. The public meeting at the First Unitarian Church on Franklin Street, sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance among others, featured talks by experts concerning the logistical and legal issues in Proposition S, two workshops, an open-mike question-and-answer session, and a forum featuring a stream of current and hopeful politicians. The talk happened on the same day as the introduction of an amendment to a House appropriations bill in Washington on preventing the federal Drug Enforcement Agency from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. The issue of medical marijuana has become a hot topic recently as George W. Bush's administration has targeted California's and specifically San Francisco's liberal marijuana laws. The DEA and federal prosecutors have put pressure on weed growers, distributors, activists and doctors who prescribe the drug. A map displayed during the conference showed the high number of pot clubs around San Francisco. "If I look at a map and I'm opposed to medicinal marijuana, I see a bull's-eye right here," said Dale Gieringer, state coordinator of the California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, pointing to the Bay Area. San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed Prop. S last November in response to the federal pressure. Prop. S dictates that San Francisco policymakers explore the possibility of The City procuring control of the growth and distribution of marijuana, taking the heat off individuals. The conference tried to focus on the problems of logistics, physician willingness to prescribe, and separating the needy patients from the rest of the pot culture, according to Steve Heilig from the San Francisco Medical Society. Eddy Lepp, owner of Eddy's Medicinal Garden, a ganja-growing cooperative in Lake County that harvests several thousand pounds of marijuana a year, said the feds really don't have any control over state drug enforcement. "Why would I be leaving and going out to my truck to smoke a joint right now, if the federal government had any authority over it?" said Lepp, who survived two drug raids and currently has a $36 million lawsuit pending after a raid in August 2002, as he left the conference. A stream of city politicians spoke supporting Prop. S, including mayoral and district attorney candidates, with current DA Terence Hallinan getting a standing ovation. Mayoral candidate Angela Alioto received one of the warmest reactions to her impassioned speech that touched on her husband, who died of stomach cancer and could not receive medicinal marijuana to help his suffering. "What a great city we live in where all three candidates for DA support the use of medical marijuana," joked candidate Bill Fazio. Note: Meeting on S.F. pot farming as Congress considers states'rights bill. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart