cannabisnews.com: Group Sought To Manage Marijuana Program





Group Sought To Manage Marijuana Program
Posted by CN Staff on June 20, 2002 at 07:58:45 PT
Marijuana ID Card Program Still Faces Bump In Road
Source: SanDiegoChannel.com
The city of San Diego is accepting proposals to manage its medical marijuana identification card program. The agency eventually chosen to run the program will be responsible for verifying doctors' recommendations that a patient use medical cannabis for his or her condition, and will issue the cards to qualified patients and caregivers. But as the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee of the City Council heard Wednesday, there is disagreement between the task force that recommended the ID program and law enforcement over what constitutes a caregiver. 
The committee accepted a status report from the city's Medicinal Cannabis Task Force, and directed the group to continue working with the Police Department and City Attorney's Office to define the sticking point. "I anticipate that we will be at odds in this area," said Juliana Humphrey, who chairs the task force. Her group says police are being too narrow in the definition of who can legitimately provide marijuana. Also at the PS&NS Committee meeting, a number of medical marijuana users said they need better guidelines so they won't have problems with police. Several people concerned about drugs and youths spoke out against the task force recommendations. They have been largely absent from the issue, and San Diego Prevention Coalition Executive Director John Redman and others said the task force seems heavily weighted toward people who favor marijuana use. "Listening to the medical marijuana task force and the things that are coming out of it, I am wondering if you are getting a balanced perspective," Redman said. Councilwoman Toni Atkins chairs the PS&NS Committee. She said the anti-drug advocates could submit their names as potential members of the task force. She and Councilman Ralph Inzunza Jr. made the point that they are against illegal drug use, but want marijuana available to those with a medical need. "We are not here to legalize marijuana," Inzunza said. "We are not here to promote it." The speakers advocating medical marijuana use stressed the medical aspect. One man in a wheelchair said the caregiver issue is important because his primary caregiver is a county employee who wouldn't be allowed to provide marijuana, and he can't grow it himself because of his medical condition. Medical marijuana advocates say it can help reduce nausea, revive appetite and relieve pain associated with medical conditions including AIDS, glaucoma and cancer. Proposition 215, which voters passed in 1996, allows the medical use of marijuana with a doctor's permission. But the law's implementation has been complicated, in part because marijuana possession remains illegal under federal law. Councilman Brian Maienschein, a lawyer, cited that as his reason for voting against the action. "It is just my understanding that as it stands now it is illegal," he said, adding the situation "puts our police officers in a terrible position." Humphrey said "trends in federal law show us to be on safe ground in making guidelines for possession and cultivation of medical marijuana." Source: SanDiegoChannel.comPublished: June 19, 2002Copyright: 2002 TheSanDiegoChannel.comWebsite: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmPanel Pitches City ID Cards for Medical Pot Users http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11306.shtmlID Card for Marijuana Patients Urged http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10974.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on June 20, 2002 at 10:56:37 PT
The public needs education on pot growing!
The speakers advocating medical marijuana use stressed the medical aspect. One man in a wheelchair said the caregiver issue is important because his primary caregiver is a county employee who wouldn't be allowed to provide marijuana, and he can't grow it himself because of his medical condition
People still do not realize how long it takes to grow marijuana, how physically demanding it can be to grow marijuana, and how uncertain any crop yield is for a first time grower.The public needs to be educated about marijuana growing, because they are being seduced into thinking that growing their own pot is going to be a solution if they ever need the weed themselves.It takes three to five months to grow marijuana, and the oncologist is not going to wait that long before starting chemo.
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