Pubdate: Fri, 05 Apr 2013
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2013 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Legislature Must Follow Through, Honor Will of Voters

Nevada voters approved medical marijuana at the polls, placing it in
the state constitution more than 12 years ago and instructing: "The
Legislature shall provide by law for ... appropriate methods for
supply of the plant to patients authorized to use it." Today sick
Nevadans can pay a $150 fee and acquire a physician's recommendation
for the medicinal plant. Then what? They can grow their own plants,
with an absurd limitation on the number of seedlings grown at any
time. But police can be relied upon to bust well-meaning souls who
have tried to help patients acquire this medicinal plant, threatening
biblical prison terms.

A year ago, District Judge Donald Mosley, in his last day on the
bench, condemned the absurd state of Nevada's medical marijuana
amendment, calling it "ridiculous." He dismissed a drug trafficking
case against Nathan Hamilton and Leonard Schwingdorf, who supplied the
herb to patients unable to grow it themselves. Prosecutors argued the
marijuana dispensary staff suggested a specific cash donation for the
marijuana, which under state law qualifies as "consideration" and is
illegal. They also charged the dispensaries were growing more than
seven plants, the allowed maximum.

"It is absurd to suppose that from an unspecified source 'free'
marijuana will be provided to those who are lawfully empowered to
receive it," the judge wrote.

Now comes state Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, with a bill to
authorize 10 medical marijuana dispensaries in Clark County, to be
expanded as needed. A $20,000 fee - and a $5,000 annual renewal charge
- - would be required to operate a for-profit marijuana dispensary,
treating such operations in a manner similar to the current regulation
of pharmacies.

In a hearing on Senate Bill 374 last week, Metropolitan Police
Department lobbyist Chuck Calloway asked the Legislature to increase
sentences for those who grow marijuana outside the new regulated
regime. "We have a huge problem with indoor and outdoor grow houses,"
Mr. Calloway stated.

What kind of problem? Toxic pot? Extortionate prices? The problem
Metro has with marijuana growers is that they don't want any marijuana
growers. Their conduct in busting even the most well-intentioned
dispensaries - enabling a prosecution racket that demands heavier
sentences than those meted out to armed robbers - is further evidence
of an arrogant refusal to comply with the obvious direction of the
very electorate they claim to serve and protect.

Illicit activities persist precisely because law enforcement agencies
have been ignoring the law in order to wage their own moral jihad
against a plant that Americans are now unmistakably shepherding toward
commercial normalcy.

Our prisons don't yet have enough nonviolent, victimless offenders?
Draconian cries for ever-harsher sentences for docile pot smokers who
nurse along an eighth seedling have lost all credibility, are
embarrassing and should be ignored.

SB374 would better comply with the decade-old instructions of Nevada
voters than anything anyone else has presented. Give it a try and make
necessary adjustments later.

Though we would suggest one addition to the bill: amnesty and a
recommendation for a full pardon for any nonviolent offender who's
been caught up in the legal system for merely trying to do what voters
mandated a dozen years ago - providing marijuana to sick people.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D