cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Restrictions Up in Smoke? Medical Pot Restrictions Up in Smoke? Posted by CN Staff on February 08, 2003 at 14:29:13 PT Editorial Source: Times-Standard Humboldt County's new district attorney, Paul Gallegos, has as advertised produced a sweeping proposal to substantially increase the amount of pot that medical marijuana patients can grow.Under former District Attorney Terry Farmer, that limit was 10 plants for legally registered medical marijuana patients. Gallegos, in guidelines that must still be reviewed by local law enforcement agencies, proposes to increase that substantially to 99 plants, or a maximum of a 100-square-foot growing area indoors or outdoors. The proposal is similar to guidelines already in place in Sonoma and Del Norte counties. These limits, the DA says, would allow Humboldt patients to have a supply of up to 3 pounds of dried marijuana buds per year.That may not sound like much, but it equals about 1 ounce per week per individual user of mature, dried buds -- not shake or immature pot.With moderate, planned usage -- and with the more powerful varieties of pot common today as compared to 20 years ago -- that should be more than enough for any patient. Keep in mind that the idea, in part, is to dull the pain of those suffering from cancer and to provide some comfort to terminal patients. The intent of the law is not, as we understand it, to encourage medical patients to be stoned out of their minds every waking minute.We applaud Gallegos for taking a bold, early step to fulfill a key campaign promise to constituents. The rules are intended to minimize the gray area in enforcing the law, while still allowing medical marijuana patients their rights under that law.That being said, we do have some concerns:* The district attorney should, as planned, wait for a full review and comment from law enforcement agencies countywide. They are the men and women in the trenches and they may well have key insights that could modify the proposed limits.* Medical pot patients should exercise their rights with common sense and discretion. In general, marijuana is still illegal. There's little reason to transport pot if you are allowed to grow it at home. And smoke it there -- not in a park with kids running around -- or risk getting busted or hassled.* Cops should know the law and enforce it fairly, not arrest people or seize pot that is exempt from such action. Conversely, pot activists shouldn't use the proposed eased restrictions as an excuse to think that, suddenly, it's OK to smoke marijuana. Break the law and face fines, jail or worse.* Once the new rules are in place, let's give them a chance to see how they work. A clearly defined trial period, if deemed practicable, could be one way to test the proposals.In general, we support the concept of the new proposed guidelines. We believe they could pave the way for less law-enforcement time and tax money spent on petty offenses, and much more emphasis on more pressing community problems.Those include methamphetamine use and production, domestic abuse and other violence in the community, particularly shootings.Let's not panic on the eased restrictions, and let's take the new DA at his word -- which includes that medical marijuana users will know for certain when to cap off their yield and destroy the excess. We certainly don't want it for sale in the community.And while we're on the subject of campaign promises, we're still eager to see Gallegos take on his first personal prosecution in court, once he gets settled into office.Source: Times-Standard (CA)Published: Saturday, February 08, 2003 Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc.Contact: editor times-standard.comWebsite: http://www.times-standard.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmDA Upping Medical Marijuana Limit to 99 Plants http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15331.shtmlDA Unveils Expansive Medical Pot Policy http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15312.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment