Pubdate: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA) Column: Cannabinotes Copyright: 2003 Anderson Valley Advertiser Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2667 Author: Fred Gardner Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mikuriya (Tod Mikuriya, MD) MIKURIYA CASE- IT'S THE JUDGE'S TURN Tod Mikuriya, MD, spent six hours on the witness stand Sept. 24 getting cross-examined on his treatment of 17 patients by Assistant Attorney General Larry Mercer. The exchanges took on a pattern. Had Mikuriya taken Patient A's blood pressure? No. Had he checked Patient B's right-shoulder range of motion? No... Occasionally the Berkeley psychiatrist would throw in "My role is to establish whether he had a condition that would qualify him to use cannabis under Health & Safety Code 11362.5." The Medical Board of California accused Mikuriya of failing the 17 patients, not by approving their use of cannabis, -which is indisputably legal under the law created by Prop 215- but by conducting cursory examinations. Mikuriya contends that his examinations are perfectly adequate, given the finite purpose for which patients consult him. He calls the prosecution "a vengeful operation that can be traced to former Attorney General Dan Lungren and a coven of rural-county sheriffs and district attorneys who opposed Prop 215 and resent the fact that my letters of approval have made certain citizens in their jurisdictions immune to arrest and prosecution." Before Mikuriya stepped down Administrative Law Judge Jonathan Lew asked him a single, poignant question: "If there were a finding that your practice standards should be modified, would you be willing to do so?" Mikuriya said "Absolutely." A major irony of the case is that Mikuriya has been urging since 1997 that the Medical Board issue guidelines for practices such as his. Lew will now be briefed by the lawyers -a six-week process- and take another month or so to make his "recommended decision" to the Board, which has the final say on whether -and if so, how-to sanction California's foremost proponent of cannabis therapeutics. B.E. Smith Wants Your Vote B.E. Smith came back from Vietnam and drank to excess for a couple of years until he discovered that marijuana enabled him to sleep at night and cope by day. He worked as a timber faller and contractor. After Prop 215 passed he grew 87 plants for himself and a few other documented patients on land rented from a friend in Trinity County. He was tried in federal court in May, 1999. After being denied the right to cite medical use and California law, he was convicted and spent two years in prison. His campaign statement is excerpted below: So, what will I do if elected Governor? I intend to use the pardon powers of the California Constitution and shall issue a pardon to all persons convicted of a victimless crime, such as growing, selling or using marijuana or similar substances, including those persons now serving prison terms for such convictions. Furthermore, I do not intend to see such victimless crimes prosecuted while I am Governor. While I will see that real crimes are prosecuted vigorously, I will not spend the resources of Californians chasing phantom crimes, that is, innocent acts that the legislators make into crimes merely to show that they are "tough on crime," so they can get votes to keep themselves in office. I will free up millions of tax dollars from these phantom crimes to be spent on chasing real criminals, as well as providing better education for our children. I will also seek voluntary rollback of the outrageous energy contracts my predecessors have saddled us with. I assure you, we will roll back these unconscionable contracts voluntarily, or I will have the courts help us roll back these shameful contracts. One way or the other, I will spearhead a drive to push back the enormous financial pressures that have put this State on the verge of financial ruin. Will these measures be popular with the big boys in business or the legislature? No! Do I care? No! What I care about is the crushing costs borne by the average Californian for the financial mismanagement bordering on criminal recklessness which has squeezed money from the pockets of every Californian. I must accomplish the People's will in an instant, because there will not be a second chance. Anybody who thinks a Californian like me, elected from among the common People, will survive politically to be elected to a second term of office is due for a lobotomy. The great business and political powers who lust for control of the enormous wealth and vitality of this State will organize like we've never seen before, and will vilify, castigate and crucify whoever puts the will of the People into action, so that these great powers and political forces may once more pluck and plunder the treasures of the golden State. I have only two things going for me: (1) I have no reputation to maintain, except the reputation of one who is devoted to the Constitutions of California and the United States, embodying, as they do, the common rights of the People bought at the price of blood and treasure throughout the long course of history of this Nation, and (2) I owe no promises to any unseen business or political forces on this earth, except to you, the People of California. Today, because of the monumental mismanagement of the State's affairs by Gray Davis and his predecessors, we face an opportunity never before experienced in any State of the Union: to elect a Governor from among the common People of this great State, an opportunity that we may never see again, at least not in the lifetimes of most of us. I intend to use all the strength God has given me and all the powers vested in the Office of Governor by the People of this State, for the common good and welfare of the Citizens and residents of California. As a symbol of my faith and loyalty to the common People, I intend to spend at least two nights each month in the home of some poor Californian with little or no political influence, or as a inmate in one of our prisons or jails, as a symbol of my care and concern for those most forgotten among our People. Most California prisoners will leave the prison system one day. I intend to do all I can to see that they are better people, more productive members of our society, and to the degree possible, rehabilitated for their own good, as well as for ours. I spent 24 months among federal prisoners, and I can tell you from personal experience that, while there certainly are some beyond help, many, many of them are good and productive people who may have taken a wrong turn, but are no more beyond redemption than the prodigal son mentioned in a parable some 2,000 years ago. I intend to hold regular town-hall meetings with the citizens and residents of this State, to listen to the cries and pleas of those who cannot afford to hire their own private lobbyists in Sacramento. Your concerns, your heartaches, your needs, your concerns will be on my heart and in my agenda always. If you are a felon and not on parole, I urge you to register to vote, help others register, talk to your friends and relatives and put a man from among the common People in the Governor's chair for a season. Do it quickly, steadily and persistently, so that the big boys will never see us coming. It is time for us to rise up and take back the reins of government from the big business and political interests who have despoiled our State. Let us rise up as a great People, and see Babylon the Great fall, in one hour, the hour when you, the common People of California take back the powers of government by the simple, but profound act of voting for one of your own to be Governor of California. I will bear true faith and allegiance to you, the People, for all the days you choose to have me exercise the sacred powers entrusted by you in me as your Governor. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom