Pubdate: Sun, 8 Apr 2006
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Page: A1 - Front Page
Copyright: 2006 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Derek J. Moore, The Press Democrat
Cited: Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana http://www.samm.net
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

COUNTY POT RULES MAY GO UP IN SMOKE

Officials Say Current Medical Marijuana Guidelines Violate Law, May 
Have to Be Rewritten

Sonoma County's medical marijuana guidelines, which were years in the 
making and involved intense debate, may have to be scrapped and the 
process started again because the rules apparently violate state and 
federal laws, authorities said.

At issue is how much marijuana a person can legally possess and use 
in Sonoma County, and who has the authority to make that determination.

"This is a huge concern to us," said Doc Knapp, a spokesman for the 
Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana. "We've been working on these 
guidelines since 1997. We have a lot invested in this."

The issue seemed to be settled in 2001, when the Sonoma County Law 
Enforcement Chiefs Association formally adopted guidelines regulating 
medicinal use of marijuana.

Those guidelines allow three pounds of marijuana per user per year 
and, as of May 15, up to 25 plants.

However, the chiefs association, whose members include District 
Attorney Stephen Passalacqua and Sheriff Bill Cogbill, apparently was 
unaware that they did not have the authority to enact such guidelines 
under a state law passed in 2003.

The guidelines also conflict with federal law that makes marijuana 
use a crime, according to Martin Mayer, a Fullerton attorney who 
briefed the chiefs association and made them aware of the problem in March.

"This has nothing to do with whether you and I agree that someone 
should be using marijuana to make them feel better. It has to do with 
the law," said Mayer, who advises 71 law enforcement agencies in California.

It's not clear who has the authority to adjust state standards -- 
which at 8 ounces per user and 18 plants are much less generous than 
Sonoma County allowances.

Mayer and Attorney General Bill Lockyer said state law gives that 
discretion only to counties.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is poised to take up the 
issue. Supervisors could decide to adopt the guidelines as they are, 
make changes or do nothing and let state law stand.

Supervisor Mike Reilly said he's hoping to schedule a public hearing 
as early as the end of this month.

He said the board generally supports Proposition 215, the medical 
marijuana initiative passed by California voters in 1996.

"The initiative passed by over 70 percent in Sonoma County," Reilly 
said. "Our board has been pretty consistently in favor of marijuana 
use by people who need to get marijuana for medical reasons. I don't 
expect there will be huge controversy about it."

That would run counter to recent history.

The current guidelines were hammered out following lengthy discussion 
between medical marijuana advocates, public health officials and 
county law enforcement, including former District Attorney Mike Mullins.

Cogbill's call for tougher and more clearly written rules after 
prosecutors dismissed several medical marijuana cases in 2004 was met 
with strong opposition from pot advocates, who ultimately succeeded 
in keeping the amount of pot a person can have unchanged. They did, 
however, have to settle for a reduction in the number of plants.

"You can imagine the kind of debate this is going to create for the 
board," Cogbill said.

He and other law enforcement officials view themselves as victims of 
poorly written medical marijuana laws and say they were only 
attempting to clarify matters for pot users and police when they 
crafted the guidelines.

"That morphed into a kind of policy where we were setting the 
limits," Sebastopol Police Chief Jeff Weaver said. "That shouldn't 
have happened in lieu of this legal information we have."

Confusing the issue is whether cities also have the power to adjust 
marijuana limits under state law.

SB420, which was enacted in 2003 as an attempt to clarify medical 
marijuana laws, states that cities, in addition to counties, "may 
retain or enact medical marijuana guidelines allowing qualified 
patients or primary caregivers to exceed the state limits."

A call to the Attorney General's Office on Friday seeking 
clarification was not returned.

Larry Robinson, a city councilman in Sebastopol, where officials are 
in the process of drafting an ordinance regulating medical marijuana 
dispensaries, said enforcing rules for individual patients is a "gray area."

"I don't think any city wants to be the one that either prohibits or 
allows a lot more than anyone else and attracts a lot more patients," 
he said. "That's a challenge."

The chiefs association, in the meantime, decided Friday to form a 
subcommittee to study changes in how they approach medical marijuana cases.

While police do not have the authority to set the amounts for legal 
marijuana use, they can use discretion in determining what resources 
to devote to the issue and when to make arrests.

"We have some obligation not to waste taxpayers' money and not arrest 
people who have nine ounces if the district attorney is not going to 
prosecute, even though that's the law of the land," Cogbill said.

Passalacqua said the current guidelines of three pounds per user and 
25 plants will remain in effect in the interim.

The district attorney did not say whether he foresees any further 
changes to the rules.

"I certainly imagine that there will be a very spirited debate, and 
I'm certainly going to listen to the dialogue," he said. "But I think 
the significant thing that hopefully will come out of this is that 
it's time for county government and city government to have 
consistency for patients' needs."

[sidebar]

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

* Under a 2003 law, only counties can enact medicinal marijuana 
guidelines; law enforcement agencies cannot.

* The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is poised to take up the 
issue. Supervisors could decide to adopt the guidelines as they are, 
make changes or do nothing and let state law stand.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake