Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2009
Source: Los Angeles Daily News (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact: http://www.dailynews.com/writealetter
Website: http://www.dailynews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/246
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

POT POLICY: FEDS BACK OFF, NOW CITY MUST MOVE IN

FINALLY, the federal government is going to allow Californians to buy 
marijuana as a medication - 13 years after state voters approved it. 
Now, local and state governments must move quickly to come up with 
sane and practical regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Medical marijuana was approved for medicinal use in California after 
Proposition 215 was passed by voters in 1996. After that, 
dispensaries opened all over Los Angeles and enjoyed virtually no 
regulation by state or local government. The unchecked growth 
naturally led to abuses and to community concerns in places like 
North Hollywood, which has more than its fair share of dispensaries. 
As a result, in 2007, federal agents started raiding existing 
dispensaries and L.A. was forced to put a temporary halt on new ones.

Last week, the new U.S. attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., 
announced new policy that would end raids of pot clinics that were 
acting legally under California law. Instead of harassing valid and 
legitimate clinics, Holder said, the feds will focus on prosecuting 
only egregious cases of selling to minors, selling to people without 
physicians' recommendations, or selling from an unauthorized place.

That certainly makes sense as, unfortunately, there is a lot of 
abuse, which clouds matters for anyone who truly needs marijuana for 
its proven abilities to ease pain, nausea and other conditions 
without the side effects of prescription medications. Some marijuana 
clinics are pretty relaxed about requiring doctors' recommendations, 
and some are merely fronts for dealers.

What this means in a practical sense is that the feds are bowing to 
the will of California and other states that have passed laws 
allowing sick people to use pot in violation of federal law. They 
don't have to; federal law trumps state law.

The Bush administration took a hard-line approach to medical 
marijuana. In 2007, DEA agents swooped into Los Angeles and with the 
help of the Los Angeles Police Department raided a number of 
legitimate dispensaries. This seems ludicrous in the great scheme of 
things, considering the mild nature of marijuana compared with 
methamphetamine or crack. Experts say it is no more harmful than 
aspirin and far less dangerous than an addiction to, say, alcohol.

The new attitude in the Justice Department is not a surprise, given 
assurances President Obama has made that medical marijuana clinics 
would be left alone. But the new attorney general has spelled out the 
policy nicely.

Let's hope the message gets to federal prosecutors in California, who 
could make life difficult for even the most scrupulously honest 
clinic operator.

Meanwhile, with the feds backing off it puts the onus on local 
officials to step in and make sure the marijuana dispensaries are 
operating within the letter and the spirit of the law.

It's been almost two years since the Los Angeles City Council enacted 
a moratorium on new dispensaries in the city while officials craft a 
set of regulations. It's worrisome that these new rules are still in 
development, especially considering the moratorium will expire this year.

We urge the City Council to put rules on medical marijuana 
dispensaries at the top of the agenda in coming months so that 
legitimate pot clinics need never be visited by another DEA raid.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom