cannabisnews.com: County Goes Against City's Pot Plans





County Goes Against City's Pot Plans
Posted by CN Staff on October 01, 2002 at 17:04:38 PT
City Of San Diego Developing Marijuana Guidelines
Source: SanDiegoChannel.com
On a 4-1 vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors went on record Tuesday against the city of San Diego's efforts to sanction medical marijuana use. The panel voted to send a letter to the City Council registering opposition to medical marijuana guidelines the city is pursuing. Supervisor Ron Roberts voted against the condemnation. On Oct. 16, a council committee will consider guidelines put forth by the city's medical marijuana task force.
They include a recommendation that police give a pass to qualified medical marijuana users who grow or possess up to 3 pounds of the drug, or a year's supply as recommended by a doctor. "I think it's important that we send a message to the city of San Diego that we are opposed to this quantity of marijuana being available," said Supervisor Bill Horn. Horn said 3 pounds amounts to six to 18 cigarettes a day for a year -- depending on "how you roll them." "My concern is the control of this, and the fact that we're sending a message to our young people that somehow there is a medical benefit to the use of marijuana," Horn said. But several medical marijuana advocates told board members they were being misled, and said the county should be creating guidelines itself -- not opposing the city's efforts. Proposition 215, which California voters passed in 1996, allows patients with permission from a doctor to use marijuana for medical conditions. But the law has been problematic, as federal law makes no exception for medical uses. Medical marijuana advocates say cannabis can help relieve pain and other symptoms for patients with AIDS, cancer and other conditions. Steve McWilliams, a vocal proponent of medical marijuana, said the city task force drafted "the finest guidelines anywhere in the state." "The important thing is that cannabis patients -- the people that have a recommendation from a doctor -- be allowed to have their medicine," he said. "So now when somebody else has done something positive, something constructive, something well-considered, like little childish bullies on the playground you are going to come and take it all away," he told the board. McWilliams, who recently gave away marijuana outside City Hall and days later had plants confiscated by federal agents, had been a member of the city medical marijuana task force, but quit. Supervisors heard from a number of representatives of anti-drug groups. They said sanctioning medical use would send a mixed message to children, and that the proposal before the city is flawed. Louarn Sorkin, a board member of Parents and Adolescents Recovering Together Successfully, said "medical excuse marijuana" would allow large quantities of the drug to be grown and kept in neighborhoods. "Issues of the sick and dying should be taken very seriously, but advocating for looser drug laws will harm our children and our county," she said. "Research clearly shows that the greater access and availability leads to greater usage, greater acceptance and ultimately greater addiction." The anti-drug contingent worried that the city's action doesn't have sufficient restrictions, and that there is a great potential for abuse and for the drug to be diverted to the streets. They said the city program would not prohibit felons, minors or people with past drug problems from obtaining medical marijuana. "Unfortunately, what it appears as though the city of San Diego will be considering does not have anything to do with compassionate care for the suffering," said Jay Goldby, a Poway City Council member and representative of the San Diego Prevention Coalition. "Rather it appears to be the first wave in the legalization of illegal substances, starting with marijuana," he said, adding that three pounds "goes way beyond compassionate care." Roberts' motion to delay action failed. He wanted to wait until the federal-versus-state issues are settled and until "marijuana as medicine" studies at University of California, San Diego and elsewhere can be completed. Supervisor Dianne Jacob called the possible city action a "dangerous proposal" since Proposition 215 allows marijuana use for for "loosely defined medical purposes." "The ramifications of what the city of San Diego has before it has regionwide impacts," Jacob said. "I think it's very appropriate that we get involved. We need to do the right thing and we need to act responsibly." Under the city's program, qualified users would have an identification card, although the city doesn't yet have that program in place. While the City Council's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee will give the task force proposal an airing in a few weeks, the full City Council would have to give final approval to any action. Source: SanDiegoChannel.com Published: October 1, 2002Copyright: 2002 TheSanDiegoChannel.comWebsite: http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Americans for Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org Supervisors Vote To Oppose Medical Marijuana Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14324.shtmlCounty Officials Consider Condemning Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14320.shtmlPot Advocates Ask For City Leaders' Helphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14248.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by malleus on October 02, 2002 at 07:12:31 PT
Political suicide, anyone?
After what's happened in California, do these Supervisors think that by kow-towing to the pressure the DEA has no doubt placed on them, that they will ever be free of the DEA's long nose being stuck in their business and it's grimy fingers on their rights? There's an old saying: "Once you pay Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane." In other words, by cooperating with the DEA, you ensure it's further interfernce with your city.Time they all received a voter-supplied vocation change.
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