Pubdate: Sun, 25 July 1999 Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA) Copyright: 1999 Marin Independent Journal Contact: 150 Alameda del Prado, Novato, CA 94949 Website: http://www.marinij.com/ Author: Richard Halstead MEDICAL MARIJUANA CONFUSION PITS ADVOCATES VS. POLICE Advocates of marijuana as medicine remain at odds with Marin police over Proposition 215 as county officials grope for guidelines on the medical marijuana law. "It's a big freaking mess," said Capt. Dennis McQueeny, who heads the sheriff's Major Crimes Task Force. Marijuana advocates point to several arrests, including that of Jerry Knight last summer, to illustrate their complaints. Marin sheriff's deputies confiscated 25 marijuana plants from Knight's Forest Knolls home, but charges were dismissed after Knight produced a doctor's recommendation. Prosecutors then amended the complaint, charging Knight with felony possession of morphine and codeine because he had dried poppy stalks -- similar to those sold in local floral shops. District Attorney Paula Kamena ordered all charges dropped after she took office in January. "We have a big problem with the sheriff's office," said Lynnette Shaw, founder of the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Fairfax. "Proposition 215 won. We won and they didn't. When are they going to stop hurting sick people?" The Marin Alliance keeps a register of 850 members whom doctors have certified as qualified to use pot for medical reasons. The organization also helps members with legal assistance if they are arrested. A federal lawsuit has forced it to stop distributing pot to members -- at least officially. Law enforcement officials remain skeptical. They believe some people are taking advantage of the law to grow marijuana for profit. "Everybody says it's for medical purposes. How do you disprove it?" said Capt. McQueeny. "They hoodwinked the California voters and made them think it was for all these sick and dying people, and it's baloney," he said. "It's just a giant smokescreen. There are just people out there who want it legalized." Confusion Reigns More than two years since Prop 215 passed, the Marin County District Attorney's Office has yet to come up with a firm policy on how sheriff's deputies and local police should be enforcing marijuana violations, although one is in the works, McQueeny said. Confusion on how Proposition 215 should be interpreted also reigns at the state level. Last week, newly elected Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced he was endorsing a statewide registration system -- similar to the one started in Marin in 1997 -- to protect qualified patients and growers from prosecution. Two days later, Gov. Gray Davis's press secretary said the governor would be "hard pressed" to sign a bill by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, designed to implement the system. "Federal law still makes marijuana illegal," said Davis' press secretary Michael Bustamante. "We'll just have to see how it plays out in the legislative process." Rand Martin, Vasconcellos' chief of staff, said the senator will go forward with his bill, regardless. The federal government has taken a tough stand on Prop. 215. Soon after its passage, U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey suggested doctors could face federal retaliation for recommending pot. Then in May 1998, the U.S. Justice Department filed civil suits to force the closure of the Marin Alliance and five similar medical marijuana clubs in Northern California. Even though the case is still pending before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, only two of the clubs remain open today: the Marin Alliance and a Ukiah club. No Guidelines The Vasconcellos bill was written using advice from a 30-member task force of police, prosecutors and marijuana advocates. "Unfortunately, 215 was so poorly written that it provided virtually no guidelines," said Tiburon Police Chief Peter Herley, who represented the California Police Chiefs Association on the task force. Although police chiefs still want some changes in the bill, they support a registration system, Herley said. The bill would create an identity card that would be issued to individuals whose physicians certified they suffered from a serious medical condition, including AIDS, anorexia, chronic pain, cancer, glaucoma, migraines, severe nausea or persistent muscle spasms. Those issued a card would be free to possess, transport or grow marijuana - -- provided the amount was not too large. Just how much pot people would be allowed to possess would be established later by state regulation. Quantity An Issue Quantity is one of the thorny issues that has delayed Marin's development of an enforcement policy, said District Attorney Paula Kamena. She has been meeting for months with representatives of the Sheriff's Office, local police departments, the California Highway Patrol and the county health department trying to pound out an enforcement protocol. The District Attorney's Office has been reluctant to prosecute individuals who can produce a doctor's recommendation and proof of membership in a medical marijuana club. County supervisors even created a registration program to legitimize medical use and discourage prosecution. Nevertheless, the Marin County Sheriff's Office and some local police departments have found the situation hard to swallow, Shaw says. McQueeny acknowledges that it is difficult turning a blind eye to pot smokers and growers, even if they have a note from their doctor. "It's tough because we still get complaints about it," McQueeny said. "What are we supposed to say? 'Sorry sir, we don't handle that anymore.' " "We're caught in the middle," said Twin Cities Police Cpt. Mike Casteen. A year ago, Twin Cities police arrested Robert Voelker, a Greenbrae cement mason, after confiscating about 30 marijuana plants growing near his trailer home. But the District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute Voelker, a Marin Alliance member who says he smokes pot to cope with chronic back pain. Voelker then filed a $30,000 claim against the police to get his plants back and a $5,000 small claims suit. The first was denied by the city; the second rejected by a judge. Voelker says he grows his own pot because he can't afford black market prices. "I'm a blue-collar guy. Who can afford to pay $60 for an eighth of an ounce?" he asked. Casteen says if Voelker grows that many plants again, he "will be prosecuted." Allegations Denied Marin Alliance's Shaw says many local police departments -- including those in Fairfax, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Mill Valley and Novato -- call her organization before arresting individuals for pot use. Twin Cities is one of the exceptions. "We're not taking a hard line; we're trying to occupy the middle ground," Casteen said. McQueeny denies allegations by Shaw and others that he and other law enforcement officials have targeted individuals whom they have been unable to convince the District Attorney's Office to prosecute. McQueeny said the poppy charges against Knight wasn't his idea. "That was something the district attorney did. We weren't pursuing that," McQueeny said. The county's certification program -- the brainchild of Supervisors Steve Kinsey and John Kress and former county health director Thomas Peters -- has failed to attract more than a dozen applicants. And there has been a troubling link between those who applied and people who were later arrested. Of eight people who sought a county certificate, four were arrested and another had his plants confiscated, Shaw said. Law Enforcement So far, no one has been able to explain the correlation. "Law enforcement is not privy to who applies," Kamena said. "I would suspect it was happenstance." Not all members of the medical marijuana community, however, believe law enforcement in the county is a problem. Les and Daurice McKay, who operate a 20-member medical marijuana cooperative called Marin Rx, say they've had no problems with either the local police department where they live or the Sheriff's Office, both of which they've notified of their activities. The McKays were evicted from their last residence because they were growing pot there. They won't say where in Marin they are located now. "If you show them you're responsible and not out to get rich off this, they're behind you 100 percent," said Les McKay, who suffers from cancer. Marin Rx members grow all their own pot and do not buy from outside growers, McKay said. The organization does not maintain a storefront, as does the Marin Alliance. McKay said he accepts only people with cancer or AIDS as members. He frowns on people who use marijuana to treat other problems, such as "depression, headaches, menopause or stubbed toes." "It's an excuse to smoke marijuana," McKay said. "You could get the same effect by having a glass of zinfandel." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake