Pubdate: Mon, 08 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Forty-Niner (Cal State Long Beach, CA Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Daily Forty-Niner
Contact: http://www.daily49er.com/home/lettertotheeditor/
Website: http://www.daily49er.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1391
Author: Stephen Sabetti
Note: Stephen Sabetti a senior journalism major and a copy editor for 
the Daily Forty-Niner.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Proposition+215
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

EXPERIENCE AT COSTCO SIMILAR TO MARIJUANA RAIDS

Have you ever been to Costco? I'm sure you have, so I'm sure you know 
that they make you show ID at the door, since they don't let just 
anybody in. If you've got it, you're free to roam a practical 
person's playground.  You're free to indulge yourself in as much baby 
quiche or in as many toaster ovens as you see fit.

Now, imagine instead of baby quiche and toaster ovens, your ID card 
opens the door to a world of marijuana.  It's the dream, isn't it?

This isn't anything you didn't know, although it might be a bit 
exaggerated. Medical marijuana is nothing new.  Prop. 215, which 
legalized the medical use of marijuana in 1996, made California the 
first state in the Union to enact such a law. It passed with a 
resounding 56 percent majority.

To give you some perspective, the last president to receive that high 
a percentage of the vote was Ronald Regan in 1984, with almost 59 percent.

Of course, the idea of the medicinal use of marijuana isn't just a 
loophole created by some conniving stoners. In order to qualify for a 
card, a person must be suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma or a 
number of other ailments.

The Long Beach Police Department identifies 11 businesses in the city 
currently providing medical marijuana, many of which are just miles 
away from this campus. And now, the city is cracking down on them.

This isn't the first the medical marijuana providers in this city 
have heard of this. In 2005, the city of Long Beach put a six month 
moratorium on issuing licenses while the city investigated any legal 
troubles that might pop up.

Six months later, the city attorney's office decided against 
permitting it and issued no licenses, although no legal action was 
taken against those undeterred by the ruling. But now it looks like 
that's going to change.

There are a lot of drugs just sitting on the counters at Rite-Aid, 
waiting for you to come in and take them.  While you shouldn't get 
any ideas, the more creative readers out there may have figured 
something out. And this raises an interesting question: Is marijuana 
illegal because it's bad, or is it bad because it's illegal?

In an interview with the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Councilman Val 
Lerch told the paper that his wife suffers from multiple sclerosis, 
which is one of the listed ailments that would qualify for a medical 
marijuana card. Lerch, who refrained from voting on the issue due to 
his personal involvement said, "As long as federal law prohibits it, 
my wife will never use it," and that he stands by his wife's decision.

Lerch went on to say "I also support the legal use of a drug that was 
approved by voters and, from all accounts, has a legitimate value for 
patients."

The question that arises here is: What about drugs that weren't 
approved by voters but, from all accounts, have a legitimate value 
for patients?

Ask any incoming freshmen and they'll tell you that Long Beach and 
marijuana are quite fond of one another.  Just listen to a Snoop Dogg 
or a Sublime CD if you don't believe it. There are going to be those 
people who take advantage of the system.

Unfortunately, the people who are going to lose out are those who 
genuinely need the marijuana for medical purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake