Pubdate: Sun, 31 Aug 2008
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Glenda Anderson, The Press Democrat
Referenced: The guidelines http://drugsense.org/url/kKMJR2lu
Cited: California NORML http://www.canorml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jerry+Brown
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

EFFORT TO CLARIFY MEDICAL POT LAWS

Sheriffs, Advocates Agree New State Rules Will Help

Medical marijuana guidelines issued by state Attorney General Jerry 
Brown last week don't break new ground, but medical marijuana 
advocates and law enforcement officials agree they will help everyone 
figure out what's legal and what's not.

"One of our biggest complaints was (marijuana regulations) were 
confusing," said Sonoma County Sheriff Bill Cogbill.

Local law enforcement officers had been asking the state to issue 
standardized guidelines since California voters in 1996 passed 
Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medical use.

Without state guidelines, local governments and law enforcement 
scrambled to cope with the new law, spawning a dizzying array of 
fragmented regulations and unequal enforcement.

The new state guidelines are a compilation of existing state 
regulations and case law into a single "one-stop shopping" document, 
said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

"There's really nothing new in it," said Attorney General spokeswoman 
Christine Gasparac.

For example, it sets a possession limit of six mature plants and 8 
ounces of dried marijuana but continues to allow cities and counties 
to create their own limits.

"For the most part, they're consistent with what our attorneys have 
been advising clients," said Dale Gieringer, coordinator for the 
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

But it will make it easier for law enforcement officers from 
different agencies to review and enforce the laws and for patients to 
know their limits, Gasparac said.

One of the more confusing areas of medical marijuana law is the 
regulation of medical marijuana cooperatives and dispensaries, law 
enforcement officers and marijuana advocates said.

The new guidelines define how they should be run and make it clear 
that they should be nonprofit organizations and that they should pay 
sales and income taxes.

"We're happy with it," said Berta Bollinger, co-president of the 
Caregiver Compassion Group in Santa Rosa. "I appreciate the attorney 
general wants to get rid of the people who are making a lot of money."

She said her organization is in compliance with the law and won't 
need to change as a result of the guidelines.

"We're good to go," Bollinger said.

Cogbill said the guidelines support what he believed was the law.

But "now that I have the attorney general's opinion on it, we're 
going to be looking more closely at the dispensaries here in Sonoma 
County to see if they're in compliance with the law," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake