Officials across the state say they fear a lack of regulations could make new medical marijuana sites magnets for drug dealing and crime. Cities across California are acting to prevent new medical marijuana clubs from opening, with officials saying they fear that a lack of regulations in state law could make the clubs magnets for illegal drug dealing and crime. In the last two months, San Francisco, Modesto, Ontario, Huntington Beach and West Hollywood have imposed moratoriums until officials can devise rules to govern marijuana clubs. The moratoriums do not affect existing clubs; San Francisco already has 37. [continues 954 words]
Scales, Big Cash Rolls Have Deputies Skeptical Of Some Medical Claims SANTA CRUZ -- The county's Marijuana Enforcement Team says it is up to its ears in questionable medical-marijuana cards as it tries to weed out card carriers who abuse the system by selling pot for profit. Deputies have arrested five men at two Santa Cruz homes in the past week, four of whom had medical-marijuana cards yet also had items associated with drug dealing, said sheriff's Sgt. Steve Carney. [continues 562 words]
This past week, I traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the Supreme Court hearing in which the legal fate of WAMM, the 8-year-old Santa Cruz medical marijuana cooperative, will be decided. The case argued was Raich v. Ashcroft, a medical-marijuana case out of Oakland. Like WAMM, Angel Raich had successfully argued in federal court in San Francisco that she was entitled to an injunction against the attorney general of the United States, John Ashcroft, and his Drug Enforcement Agency. The injunction in both cases prohibited the federal government from interfering with the patient's cultivation, possession and use of medical marijuana. While WAMM's case was the first brought at the trial-court level, the Raich case was the first ruled on and thus was the case that went to the Supreme Court on appeal, leaving WAMM waiting for the court's ruling. If Raich wins, WAMM wins. Should Raich lose? [continues 1081 words]
It's not looking good for medical marijuana advocates in the landmark case currently before the Supreme Court. As they watch with a mixture of hope and horror at justices arguing about wheat production rather than the medical and humanitarian importance of the case, they're already asking the toughest question of all: 'What happens if we lose?' "WAMM is a club you literally have to be dying to get into," says Val Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. [continues 3159 words]
Locals React to Pot Hearing Held by the Supreme Court Eladio Acosta, a 20-year Watsonville resident from the Philippines, is one local medical marijuana user nervously awaiting results of a Supreme Court hearing that began Monday on federal prosecution of pot users protected by state statutes. Acosta, a former chef, began a debilitating round of chemotherapy last month after doctors discovered cancer for the third time in March. He uses marijuana five times per day to stimulate his appetite, control dizzy spells and let him sleep. [continues 557 words]
Ruling Could Legalize Local Marijuana Farm SANTA CRUZ - The eyes of the area's medical marijuana community will be on the nation's capital this week. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to weigh the extent of the federal government's authority in enforcing marijuana laws in states that have approved it for medical use. Whatever the court decides in Raich v. Ashcroft would have a major impact on the Santa Cruz-based cooperative Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. [continues 605 words]
BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: This past Election Day, voters in Montana approved the use of marijuana if a doctor recommends it to relieve pain. That brings to 10 the number of states --almost all in the West - -- that now permit so-called medical marijuana. But, until the Supreme Court decides which laws should prevail, that permission at the state level remains in contradiction to federal law, which forbids marijuana use for any reason. Lucky Severson reports. LUCKY SEVERSON: For now, anyway, this is a legally protected pot garden. It's located near Santa Cruz in California, and belongs to a nonprofit group called Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, known as WAMM. Valerie Corral founded WAMM after a car accident years ago left her with severe epilepsy and unbearable migraines. Her doctor prescribed medicine, but she says it didn't help. Her husband agrees. [continues 1527 words]
Santa Cruz County Approves Medical Marijuana Ordinance SANTA CRUZ - An impassioned audience greeted the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning, when the board unanimously approved a new ordinance providing guidelines for medical marijuana use in Santa Cruz County. The decision will allow medical marijuana patients to possess up to three pounds of dried cannabis buds (not leaves) per year, and users can demonstrate medical need for more. Patients will be able to grow "a 100-square foot canopy of mature female cannabis plants," which will "typically yield three pounds of dried and processed cannabis bud per year regardless of the number of marijuana plants," according to the ordinance, which requires another vote before it becomes a law. [continues 617 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- A proposed county ordinance outlining the amounts of pot that medical marijuana patients can possess could go further, but is a good law that deserves support, a leading area activist on the issue said Friday. The Board of Supervisors will consider a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would allow patients to keep 3 pounds of pot on hand, and even more if a doctor recommends it. The ordinance would need a second round of approval to become law. The ordinance allows for possession of 3 pounds and, for growing purposes, a 100-square-foot garden canopy. The rules are based on suggestions from a team of physicians led by Dr. George Wolfe, who crafted the guidelines at the request of the Board of Supervisors. [continues 380 words]
Deciding that state law doesn't properly shield medical marijuana users, Santa Cruz County supervisors Tuesday unanimously passed an ordinance that allows each medicinal user to possess up to three pounds of pot. The weight limitation applies only to the most potent part of the plant: dried cannabis buds. Stems and seeds don't count. If sold by the ounce -- the traditional method -- the marijuana would have a street value of up to $24,000. Under the new law, qualified patients will be allowed to exceed the yearly 48-ounce limit, if a doctor approves. [continues 436 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Enrico Mellone uses marijuana in his battle against cancer and Crohn's disease. He doesn't belong to a medical marijuana cooperative. Up until now, he hasn't grown it himself. Sometimes he goes to buyers' clubs in Oakland, but finds that to be expensive and the product low-grade. So when the county Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that allows medical patients to possess 3 pounds of pot and keep a garden with a 100-square-foot canopy, Mellone and others like him who rely on the marijuana were pleased. [continues 610 words]
Both Sides of Medical-Marijuana Ballot Proposal Agree Passage Wouldn't Settle Legal Issues A wheelchair-using multiple sclerosis patient and her driver are pulled over for speeding in Ann Arbor. When officers approach, they see two marijuana cigarettes on the console between the front seats. But the patient shows the officers a note from her doctor, which recommends that she use marijuana to ease her symptoms. If Ann Arbor voters pass a measure to decriminalize medical use of marijuana on Nov. 2, will this hypothetical patient still be arrested? [continues 1874 words]
The Drive to Legalize Picks Up Never before have so many Americans supported decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana. Seventy-two percent say that for simple marijuana possession, people should not be incarcerated but fined: the generally accepted definition of "decriminalization." Even more Americans support making marijuana legal for medical purposes. Support for broader legalization ranges between 25 and 42 percent, depending on how one asks the question. Two of every five Americans - according to a 2003 Zogby poll - say "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and only make it illegal for children." [continues 2982 words]
SANTA CRUZ -- Hundreds of people drifted in and out of San Lorenzo Park on Sunday to help the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana commemorate the two year anniversary of a federal raid on the group's medicinal marijuana garden in Davenport. "At around noon on this day two years ago, we were already in jail in a federal facility in San Jose," said Michael Corral, who co-founded WAMM with his wife, Valerie. But on Sunday, he and his wife were celebrating the regrowth of their garden, the support of the Santa Cruz community and the fight to get the feds to recognize marijuana's medical benefits and stop arresting medicinal marijuana patients at the Santa Cruz WAMMFEST 2004. [continues 132 words]
Santa Cruz -- Medical-marijuana patients in Santa Cruz County would be allowed to possess 3 pounds of pot under guidelines recommended by a group of physicians. No kidding - 3 pounds. As in, 48 ounces. While that amount might even make Cheech and Chong blush at first glance, doctors and patients alike say it's appropriate for medicinal purposes. Three pounds over the course of a year is understandable when a chronically ill person is trying to avoid such medicines as pharmaceutical opiates, said Valerie Corral of the Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. [continues 498 words]
WASHINGTON - The government is violating federal law by obstructing medical marijuana research, scientists contend in lawsuits seeking faster action on applications to grow the drug. In lawsuits to be filed Wednesday, researchers assert that Washington is refusing to act on legitimate research projects and delaying studies that could lead to marijuana's use as a prescription drug. "There is an urgent need for an alternative supply of marijuana for medical research," said Lyle Craker, director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the main force behind the lawsuits. [continues 346 words]
Government Agencies Accused Of Blocking Research WASHINGTON - The government is violating federal law by obstructing medicinal-marijuana research, scientists contend in lawsuits seeking faster action on applications to grow the drug. In lawsuits to be filed today, researchers assert that Washington is refusing to act on legitimate research projects and delaying studies that could lead to marijuana's use as a prescription drug. ``There is an urgent need for an alternative supply of marijuana for medical research,'' said Lyle Craker, director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the main force behind the lawsuits. [continues 149 words]
The Drive To Legalize Picks Up Never before have so many Americans supported decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana. Seventy-two percent say that for simple marijuana possession, people should not be incarcerated but fined: the generally accepted definition of "decriminalization." Even more Americans support making marijuana legal for medical purposes. Support for broader legalization ranges between 25 and 42 percent, depending on how one asks the question. Two of every five Americans-according to a 2003 Zogby poll-say "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and only make it illegal for children." [continues 3007 words]
Changes Perplex Officials and Users Every week or two, sometimes more often than that, Damon Mosler is contacted by a street cop or police official trying to wade through the increasingly confusing world of medical marijuana. Automatically, the San Diego County prosecutor runs through his checklist. How many plants are involved? Is there any evidence of sales? Does the suspect have a doctor's recommendation or otherwise appear to meet guidelines set by San Diego or the state? Mosler asks these questions to weigh whether a person is ill and eligible to grow and smoke marijuana, or whether that person is using California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 to justify getting high or selling pot. [continues 1270 words]
