Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2014 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Page: E10 FREE MEDICINAL POT - ONLY IN BERKELEY The idea is a stunner: Berkeley may soon require free marijuana for its poorest residents. The City Council is close to final approval of a plan requiring cannabis clinics to give away 2 percent of their products to those earning under $32,000 per year. Unanimously approved on the first of two required votes, the plan is sold as a humane medical service and a logical extension of the city's ample social services. Supporters say that medicinal pot languishes outside conventional health coverage, and with this law Berkeley is making it available for its poorest citizens who can't afford the prices that dispensaries charge. It's an equity issue, argue the backers. But the plan highlights everything wrong with California's haphazard pot policies, set up by a statewide vote in 1996. That measure endorsed the humane idea of medical marijuana but left out all-important factors such as sales, cultivation and enforcement. Getting those crucial details worked out has led to more chaos than therapy. In case Berkeley hasn't noticed, states such as Colorado and Washington have moved past the medical justifications for cannabis - always a thin rationale - to full legalization. There is no free pot in these states, where it's treated as a recreational drug, no more and no less. California's law falls short in other ways. Marijuana may have medical value for some who patronize the city's three clinics. But if it's such a worthy medication, it deserves to be certified and checked. There is no testing or evaluation of the free marijuana, just as there's none for the paid-for version. Guarantees of purity, potency and basic safety are missing. The one gesture in this direction is a requirement that the pot given away be of the same quality as the rest of a clinic's wares. Caveat emptor. If Berkeley is serious about its poor, there are better ideas than handing out bags of marijuana. Use the cash equivalent of this requirement to expand job training, build housing or subsidize child care. There should be more money for homeless programs, mental health and substance abuse. A dose of street sense is missing from the equation. Reality check I: Plenty of Californians with medical marijuana cards are using the drug for recreational purposes; the standards for getting a medical clearance are close to nonexistent at some "clinics." Has anyone on the Berkeley council seen an ad in an alternative weekly lately? Reality check II: Regular pot can take a toll on motivation, judgment and attention to detail. The idea that the city will give away recreational marijuana to residents who are unemployed or in dead-end jobs is foolish. Reality check III: Has it dawned on anyone in City Hall that at least some of that giveaway weed might end up being sold on the streets? The low-income giveaway strives to be fair-minded and equitable. But it comes with too many flaws and drawbacks to be taken seriously. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom