Pubdate: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.utsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 MEDICAL MARIJUANA: A BIG MESS MAY GET EVEN BIGGER As more states enact laws allowing the compassionate use of marijuana as medicine for patients with serious illnesses, they're getting smarter about how to do it without creating a mess similar to the chaotic legal mishmash in California. Unfortunately, California is moving in the opposite direction, creating an even bigger mess. The California Senate on Monday passed SB 439, authored by Senate President Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and sent it to the Assembly. Steinberg says it would curb "needless" arrests and prosecution of marijuana providers by allowing them to receive "reasonable compensation for services provided," along with reimbursement for actual expenses. The bill is supported by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, among others. Filner, by the way, also recently supported "jury nullification" in a prominent local marijuana case in federal court. That's the radical act by a jury to find a criminal defendant not guilty, even if the evidence of guilt is compelling, if the jury believes the law is "unjust." But we digress. The California Police Chiefs Association and the California Narcotic Officers Association warned that Proposition 215, the 1996 medical marijuana initiative approved by voters, "is very clear that marijuana may be cultivated or provided by qualified patients, or by caregivers. Proposition 215 did not authorize cultivation or distribution of marijuana by any other entities." "Senate Bill 439 dramatically changes that state of affairs by evidently permitting 'collectives, or cooperatives,' ... to engage in cultivation or distribution of so-called medical marijuana. The broad reference in Senate Bill 439 to 'any statutory business entity' carries with it the implication that medical marijuana may be cultivated and distributed for profit. "This is a major expansion of Proposition 215 that is inconsistent with that original measure. ... The public safety consequences of permitting entire new classes of businesses to engage in medical marijuana sales - for profit - are serious. Currently medical marijuana dispensaries are a blight on neighborhoods and have been magnets for criminal activity." It may be likely that, because of the law enforcement opposition, SB 439 will be amended in the Assembly. We can only hope that it is, and that those amendments are for the better. But it's too bad California is not following the model of Maryland, where Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley this month signed legislation allowing marijuana to be distributed only through public teaching hospitals. Or Illinois, where a bill is currently on the desk of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn that would create a four-year trial in which only 60 dispensaries would be allowed statewide and the state would license only one marijuana grower for every state police district. In addition, patients would have to be diagnosed with one of 42 specific diseases and would have to undergo fingerprinting and a criminal-background check. That's how to do "medical marijuana" right. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt