cannabisnews.com: Mayor Approves County Pot Regulations Mayor Approves County Pot Regulations Posted by CN Staff on July 23, 2002 at 18:01:45 PT By Tiffany Edwards, West Hawaii Today Source: West Hawaii Today County officials are taking steps to clarify the state's medical marijuana law for residents and for police. County rules and regulations spell out how the Police Department is to enforce the law and how it investigates suspected violations.Before Mayor Harry Kim went on vacation Friday he signed the rules and regulations that govern marijuana eradication operations and reconnaissance missions, as well as investigations involving medical and religious use of marijuana. "Hopefully by the signing of these rules, we will clarify what procedures the police are to follow," County Managing Director Dixie Kaetsu said Monday. Kim's signature on these rules and regulations, which have been in draft form for more than a year, came three months after the Police Department approved them. Kaetsu acknowledged the recent seizure of marijuana from residents holding Department of Public Safety medical marijuana certificates "made him look at it more and realize we needed to get these in place." "This whole medical marijuana thing is new to police," Kaetsu said. "There is this conflict between the federal law, where marijuana is illegal and there is no recognition of medical marijuana use, and the state law, which authorizes the use, in limited quantities, for medical purposes."A physician may apply on behalf of a patient to the state Department of Public Safety for a medical marijuana certificate, Kona Police Lt. Robert Hickcox said. In that process, a patient is apprised of how much marijuana may be possessed legally, he said. The county's rules and regulations for medical and religious marijuana states qualifying patients must have been diagnosed by a doctor to have "a debilitating condition," which includes: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe pain; severe nausea; seizures, including epilepsy; severe and persistent muscle spasms, such as those that occur with multiple sclerosis or Chron's disease; or any other medical condition approved by the state Department of Health at the request of a physician or potential qualifying medical marijuana patient. Also defined in the county's rules and regulations is the "adequate supply" that a patient may possess. Keith Kamita, who leads the Department of Public Safety's narcotic enforcement unit, said Monday the law states a medical marijuana patient is permitted to have four immature plants and three mature plants, along with one ounce of usable marijuana per mature plant. The law defines a marijuana plant, whether male or female, as mature when it has flowered, or has buds that are readily observed by "unaided visual examination." In households with more than one registered patient growing marijuana, the Public Safety Department recommends plants be "visibly marked as to what patient has what plants," Kamita said. "The thing that's sticky about this, what I would say is a flaw in the law, is if you have three people on a property, police are having a difficulty determining who had which immature and mature plants," he said. "It's a good idea to separate the plants and to mark them."Kamita said 286 of the 626 registered medical marijuana patients in the state live on the Big Island. Of the state's registered primary caregivers, or people who can legally grow marijuana for medical marijuana patients not able to grow on their own, 23 live on this island, he said. Hickcox, who leads the Kona Vice section, recommends Big Island residents who are approved to grow marijuana ensure they are following the state guidelines and stagger when they plant seeds to ensure only three of the seven permitted plants are maturing at a given time."It's really hard to give specifics because there are a whole bunch of varieties of marijuana strains. It's up to the patient or caregiver to monitor the plants. If they can see a violation, I would think they would be responsible and, wanting to stay within the guidelines, they would pull (the plants) and just keep the specified amount," Hickcox said. Meanwhile, officers investigating possession or cultivation of marijuana cases should find out whether a person is legally entitled to have or grow the marijuana, according to the county rules and regulations. "Before making a warrantless arrest or warrantless search or seizure based on probable cause, an officer shall ascertain if the person has a registry identification certificate, unless evidence exists of conduct that would disqualify the person from the medical use of marijuana defense," the rules and regulations read.Officers are to contact the Department of Public Safety for such information, according to the document.The rules and regulations state if the validity of a medical marijuana certificate cannot be determined and the number of plants fall within the medical marijuana law, only as much as two grams can be seized as evidence. Once a court determines a person is a permitted patient or caregiver, the rules and regulations state the marijuana, paraphernalia and any other property seized should be returned.There is a caveat, however - "The Hawaii Police Department shall not be responsible for the care and maintenance of seized live marijuana plants," the rules and regulations state. Those with questions may call the narcotics enforcement unit of the Public Safety Department at (808) 837 - 8470, or Hickcox at the Kealakehe station at 326 - 4646.Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)Author: Tiffany Edwards, West Hawaii Today Published: Tuesday, July 23, 2002Copyright: 2002 West Hawaii TodayContact: wht aloha.netWebsite: http://westhawaiitoday.com/Related Articles:Lawsuits Filed in Two Big Island Cases http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13515.shtmlBig Island Pot Raids Look Like a Stretch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13509.shtmlBig Island Residents Protest Drug Raids http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13487.shtml Kim Signs Medical Pot Rules http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13486.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 23, 2002 at 20:48:32 PT Friendly Reminder - Tomorrow's The Day Congressional Alert on Medical Marijuana Congressional Alert Source: NORML On Wednesday, July 24, Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX), along with former top aide to President Ronald Reagan, Lyn Nofziger, will be holding a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to discuss H.R. 2592, the States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, and the crucial need for Congress to schedule hearings and a vote on this important piece of health care legislation. They will be joined by other congressional co-sponsors, as well as representatives from patient communities and health-related organizations. This bill is urgently needed to amend federal law so that states that wish to permit the legal use of marijuana as a medicine for seriously ill patients may do so, without interference from the federal government. Complete Article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread13439.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by paul peterson on July 23, 2002 at 20:42:32 PT: STATE OF THE ART SNAFU'S & STUFF WELL, SINCE THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT FAILED TO GIVE SOME GROW GUIDELINES (OUT OF FED FEAR, OF COURSE) at least the Hawaii people have brought clarity to the issue (and not a minute too soon). I got a letter from ASA, too, after I challenged him to a duel (of wits, regarding this MM thingy-a debate). He waited until I had convinced my local PUBLIC LIBRARY to allow me to give a seminar on the subject (tomorrow of all days!). Did I just get his letter back "declining" my invitation because his people have been monitoring my transmissions and he finally knew the jig was up? Or because he knows that he needs to try to "contain" all of the voices out there that are clamouring for clarity? Or generically for damage control? Or because he really wants to make friends with his dissident voices, because maybe otherwise he might be getting more and more lonely over there? He did give me a copy of the threatening letter he sent to the Maryland Legislature, WHICH REALLY SURPRISED ME, IT DID! So since I have this gig about MEDICAL MARIJUANA tomorrow night, I invited the local DEA, FBI & DOJ people (and the governor's office & the Chicago city health department) and it will be interesting to see who shows up (and for what agenda they will be there!). It will be especially interesting in light of NORML's press conference tomorrow & JOHN WALTERS' hackney'd rhetoric LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS during the day.With all this recent spate of activity (don't forget the BRITISH OPEN & THE CANADIAN CLUB stuff), I'm thinking the only thing that could make tomorrow a really bigger DAY TO REMEMBER would be to get the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to jump in with a rousing ENDORSEMENT OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND HEMP FOOD PRODUCTS (and really send a message to those DEA boys to "just go home").Or how about another ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY that we haven't heard from for awhile , to come forward and say that they too, will decriminalize? I just can't decide which one is next on tap, can you? (I think we are on a roll on this one, boys! ) PAUL PETERSON, live from Chicago, your local correspondent from the LAND OF LINCOLN, HOME OF THE 10TH STATE WITH A MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW (AND PROGRAM ON ITS WAY, soon, I hope). 312-558-9999 http://illinois-mmi.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by JOhn Tyler on July 23, 2002 at 20:12:19 PT Med Pot Rules In most all of the places where med pot is "legal" under state law the cops still like to go in and screw with people. They break into their homes, take their plants and weed, usually wreck the place, take them to jail and court, then lose, then won't give the victims their stuff back. Lawyers and politicians then try to write some overly complex and stupid rules for the cops to follow, etc. etc. who owned what plants, were they mature, were they Sam's or Joe's. This is very complex, tedious, and weird. The only way around this is full legalization. Then they cops can't screw with you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by ekim on July 23, 2002 at 19:36:47 PT with S.F. and NV. more Universitys need apply From: Peter Webster Date: Tue Jul 23, 2002 2:03 pm Subject: MAPS v. DEA ADVERTISEMENT From: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 08:18:20 EDT Subject: MAPS: MAPS v. DEA To: maps-forum m...Forum readers:On Friday, July 19, 2002, I received a copy of a letter from DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson to Rep. Barney Frank, indicating that DEA will refuse to license privately-funded medical marijuana production facilities. Hutchinson said that the US was forbidden to license privately-funded production facilities by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This policy interpretation pits the US government against the British Government, which has licensed a privately-funded medical marijuana production facility (GW Pharmaceuticals), and perhaps against the International Narcotics Control Board itself, which administers the treaty and has never spoken out against the licensing of GW Pharmaceuticals.Hutchinson was responding to a June 6, 2002 letter from Rep. Frank and four other Massachusetts congressmen (Reps. Olver, Capuano, Delahunt and McGovern) indicating their support for such licensing. MAPS and MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) had worked to obtain the letter as part of our efforts to obtain a license for a medical marijuana production facility at UMass Amherst. The Congressmen's letter appears on the back cover of this issue of the MAPS Bulletin, which has just been mailed and should arrive via bulk mail in several weeks.Asa Hutchinson's letter was not a formal rejection of the UMass Amherst application, which DEA recently illegally returned to Prof Lyle Craker without comment, after supposedly having lost it over a year ago when it was first submitted. MAPS will resubmit the UMass Amherst for a formal action from DEA, along with a legal analysis showing that the Single Convention does not prohibit private-production of marijuana for medical research. If DEA formally rejects the UMass Amherst application, we may initiate a lawsuit against DEA in the form of another DEA Administrative Law Judge hearing.Rick Doblin----------------- MAPS-Forum m..., a member service of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (see www.maps.org/cgi-bin/thatsanorder_LE ). To [un]subscribe, email the message text, [un]subscribe maps-forum youraddress to majordomo m... List archives: www.cerebral.org/Maps Guidelines for authors: www.maps.org/guidelines.txt MAPS Forum is supported by a generous grant from the Promind Foundation. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment