Pubdate: Sun, 29 Apr 2012
Source: Reporter, The (Vacaville, CA)
Copyright: 2012 The Reporter
Contact:  http://www.thereporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/472

TIME TO REGULATE MARIJUANA

It's bad enough that federal and state regulations regarding medical
marijuana are still in conflict nearly 16 years after California
became the first state to authorize its use. What's worse is that
California still hasn't put its own rules into place.

That leads to seemingly bizarre situations such as occurred last week:
On Monday, a Solano County jury acquitted a Vacaville businessman of
operating an illegal dispensary -- the only one in the city. The next
day, an indictment of 25 drug suspects included a deposition that
outlined some of their alleged connections with multiple medical
marijuana dispensaries in Vallejo, which has at least 20 such
storefront operations.

Are there really enough legitimate patients to support that many
medical marijuana dispensaries in Vallejo, population 117,798?
Conversely, shouldn't a city the size of Vacaville -- population
96,905 -- have at least one?

Let's face it, if the federal government would do the sensible thing
and reclassify marijuana, then scientists could begin to gather the
empirical evidence needed to determine if and when medical marijuana
is effective. Ultimately, patients could obtain it the same way they
get other prescriptions: at the pharmacy.

But since the federal government is stuck on stupid about this,
marijuana continues to be classified as a drug with no redeeming value
- -- despite testimony from seriously ill or hurting patients who swear
it is the only thing that brings them relief.

That anecdotal evidence is in part why 55 percent of California voters
in 1996 made it clear that state laws should not be used to prosecute
those who use or help provide medical marijuana to people who have a
valid doctor's prescription for it.

What the Compassionate Use Act didn't do was set up a system by which
those patients could legally obtain medical marijuana. Consequently, a
patchwork of mostly local regulations have arisen.

Some communities, such as Vacaville, have outlawed medical marijuana
dispensaries altogether, which is how businessman and former City
Council candidate Flash Gordon ended up fighting charges in court for
two years. Despite apparently following an opinion -- the state's only
real guideline -- issued by California Attorney General (now Gov.)
Jerry Brown and despite turning away undercover officers who tried to
make purchases without a prescription, Mr. Gordon's business --
located on Merchant Street, a block from the Police Department -- was
raided in 2010 and shut down.

A judge eventually dismissed a charge that Mr. Gordon was operating
without a business license (even if his definition of "dried flowers"
wasn't what city officials probably had in mind). Jurors -- reflecting
California voters' values -- ultimately sided with him, saying he
wasn't unlawfully selling or possessing marijuana.

Meanwhile, documents released along with Tuesday's south county
indictments contain persuasive evidence that at least some
dispensaries appear to be hiding behind medical marijuana while
engaging in illicit drug trafficking. That's not what voters wanted,
either.

It is past time that the state brought some order to this chaos. So it
is heartening to learn that the Legislature is actually considering
the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Control Act. Assembly Bill 2312,
introduced in February by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco,
would standardize the rules on medical marijuana statewide. Cities and
counties would still retain some control, as long as they adhered to
the state regulations, which would be enforced by a new nine-member
board in the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Not everyone is on board with this bill, but it's encouraging that it
has made it through the Assembly's Public Safety and Health Committee
and is now awaiting a hearing with the Appropriations Committee.

It's a big bill, so there are plenty of nits to pick with it. But
that's what the legislative process is for. The important thing for
all interested parties to remember is this: It is better than what's
in place now, which is, essentially, nothing. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D