cannabisnews.com: Joint Venture





Joint Venture
Posted by CN Staff on May 10, 2003 at 23:51:15 PT
By Jeff Chorney, The Recorder
Source: Recorder
Sacramento -- Since he became the state's top prosecutor in 1999, Attorney General Bill Lockyer has portrayed himself as standing fast in support of California's medicinal marijuana law. He's filed amicus briefs defending the law in federal court. He founded a task force to create statewide standards for how much pot people can possess. He's even personalized the controversy over marijuana's ability to relieve suffering by invoking the deaths from leukemia of his mother and sister. 
Advocates of the ballot initiative that legalized marijuana for sick people, 1996's Proposition 215, are glad for Lockyer's support. But now some are questioning his sincerity. Lockyer's office is prosecuting a 69-year-old Berkeley doctor named Tod Mikuriya, who, because he's written about 7,000 recommendations for the drug, is one of the most visible medicinal marijuana activists in the state, according to a member of his legal team. Since at least 1999, Mikuriya has been under investigation by the Medical Board of California because of marijuana recommendations he's written. Two of Lockyer's deputies, Jane Zack Simon and Lawrence Mercer, are handling the case in their role as counsel to the board. If they get their way, Mikuriya will be put on probation or lose his license to practice medicine altogether. "Tod is being targeted because he has given recommendations to so many patients outside of the Bay Area. He's got a real devotion to this kind of intervention," said one of Mikuriya's attorneys, Oakland solo William Simpich. Marijuana makes up the majority of Mikuriya's practice; he also practices psychiatry and biofeedback. He has testified in court on behalf of people busted for possession and will drive to rural areas to meet with patients who can't get local doctors to recommend the drug, Simpich said. Where some might see an apparent incongruity in Lockyer's support of the prosecution, Simpich doesn't think the AG's actions are odd at all. He doesn't see Lockyer as a staunch Prop 215 supporter and describes the AG's support of the initiative as "lukewarm" at best. He'd like to see Lockyer not only leave Mikuriya alone, but take the initiative to help patients statewide who are still being busted for possession. "If you are a patient in any county outside the Bay Area, you've got the crosshairs on your neck," Simpich said. But Lockyer spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said Simpich is politicizing an issue that really has nothing to do with marijuana at all. "Dr. Mikuriya is not being prosecuted because he recommends medicinal marijuana to his patients. He is being prosecuted based on the belief that he does not provide adequate screening," Jordan said. That's in line with the Medical Board's chief of enforcement, David Thornton, who said that if the board really wanted to go after doctors just for recommending marijuana, it would run more than the nine investigations it's carried out since the initiative became law. Of those, two doctors are now on probation and two have pending accusations. Mikuriya's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the charges. If that fails, his case is scheduled to go to trial in front of an administrative law judge in September. The other doctor with a pending case, William Eidelman of Santa Monica, has already been suspended. The case against Mikuriya is based on his visits with 16 patients between 1998 and 2001. The board alleges that the doctor met with the new patients and, for $100 or $120, wrote marijuana recommendations without properly evaluating their medical conditions or providing follow-up. Several of the patients had past arrests for marijuana; a few had pending criminal cases. The Medical Board was particularly offended at Mikuriya's sanctioning marijuana for a pregnant, 18-year-old anorexic. Thornton explained that although you cannot obtain marijuana at your local pharmacy, the Medical Board expects doctors to treat recommendations just like they would prescriptions for morphine or ibuprofen, for example. "They're well within their right to recommend marijuana. But when they put it in writing, they need to back that up" by conducting a "good-faith" examination and otherwise making sure the patient has a bona fide need for the drug, Thornton said. Mikuriya's lawyers say that's exactly the rub. According to their reply brief, "Dr. Mikuriya did not 'prescribe' medical marijuana, and therefore was not required to follow the record-keeping and physical exam requirements for 'prescribing' medication." They also argue that the Compassionate Use Act, Health and Safety Code § 11362.5, grants Mikuriya absolute immunity for recommending marijuana. Beyond this case, Simpich, the defense attorney, said he would like to see Lockyer act to improve the situation statewide, intervening when local prosecutors go after caregivers and patients. Lockyer has already tried to improve things, but his efforts were blocked by Gov. Gray Davis. When Lockyer took office, he created a task force that explored the issue and said California should create patient identification cards, allow cooperative cultivation, and clear up discrepancies that make it hard for cities and counties to enforce the law. Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, has proposed several bills to carry out the task force wishes. But even after both houses passed his measure last year, the senator held onto it because Davis said he would veto. Vasconcellos has introduced the same bill again this year as SB 420. Simpich said none of the allegations against Mikuriya are based on complaints from patients. Rather, the AG's office is being manipulated by conservatives in law enforcement who still think the drug is the "work of the devil," he said. "We think it's just been under [Lockyer's] radar. Now, we're hoping he'll intervene and say, 'This is stupid,'" Simpich said. That doesn't seem very likely. AG spokeswoman Jordan said her boss is well aware of what's going on. "The attorney general relies on the professionalism of these longtime deputy attorneys general," Jordan said. "They've got his full support." The case is In the Matter of the Accusation Against Tod Mikuriya, M.D., 12-1999-98783.Note: Despite his support for medical marijuana, AG Lockyer is taking action against a Berkeley doctor known for his pot prescriptions.Source: Recorder, The (CA)Author: Jeff Chorney, The RecorderPublished: May 12, 2003Copyright: 2003 NLP IP CompanyContact: bbaraff therecorder.comWebsite: http://www.callaw.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D.http://www.mikuriya.com/Marijuana Specialist Defends His Practicehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16156.shtmlDoctors Without Orders http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15398.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 11, 2003 at 14:48:06 PT
Lehder 
You made me cry. Thank you. God Bless all the Mothers today.
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Comment #5 posted by Lehder on May 11, 2003 at 14:44:42 PT
more on mothers 
Actually, many of the mothers in Dr. Dreher's studies ingested their marijuana (mota) via various tea and milk recipes.I think "smoking" maybe prejudices the uninitiated against cannabis (ganja) since smoking tobacco carries such a bad image. So we ought to emphasize nice stories about mothers and other nice people, especially today, to help unburden the unhappy of their sorry prejudices.I stopped for a snack today, all alone, my mother having left the planet last year without the benefit of the marijuana she had wanted to try out to see if it would relieve the terrible shaking caused by chemo. ( I will not soon forget this needless deprivation. ) Into the restaurant walked a very old lady, all alone, looking nice but a little odd because she was elaborately dressed up in very old clothes and gaudy, out-of-syle jewelry. She asked the waitress if any special mother's day dinners were being served and sat down quietly to order when assured there were several specials to choose from.I felt a ltlle sorry for this lady, all alone - maybe she'd never had any children - and thought that with a few nice words I might, magically, say hello to my own mother today. So on my way out, over her prime rib and spaghetti, I wished her "Happy Mother's Day," and told her how I felt a little bad for her without a son or daughter to pick up the tab. She was thrilled ( poor old ladies, all alone, are easy ) but told me the unhappy news that she had been waiting all ready and pretty for her son, who had promised to take her out but called at the last minute to say he could not make it until the next week. Shame on him! Was he drunk, I wondered. I don't know, but certainly he was not sipping ganja tea with his mother as he should have been.So be nice to your mamas today, people, and don't be queasy about sharing your herb ( honey slides ). You're gonna miss them.
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Comment #4 posted by Lehder on May 11, 2003 at 13:59:15 PT
More Facts to Offend the Medical Board
again:>>The Medical Board was particularly offended at Mikuriya's sanctioning marijuana for a
   pregnant, 18-year-old anorexic.I went to the head shop, man, to ask if smoking ganja could harm a fetus. What did I find? A magazine called "Best of Cannabis Culture" that features an article about Dr. Melanie Dreher. Since 1970 Dr. Dreher has conducted research in Jamaica to determine the effects of cannabis on fetuses. She examines the physical and mental health of new-borns, month-olds and four-year-olds of smoking mothers and mothers of a nonsmoking control group. She's found that the babies of smoking mothers turned out to be more alert and stable than the others, and that the smoking mothers were rather better off too.Dr. Dreher is a well respected physician, Dean of Nursing at the University of Iowa, and we can thank the federal government for funding some of her research - or so reports Cannabis Culture. So I decided to check, and, guess what - it's all true:http://search.yahoo.com/search?x=wrt&p=Melanie+Dreher&vm=i&n=20&fl=0I did not read any of these links as it is my practice to take a special drug, unknown to the ethneogen community, to close my mind after forming any quick opinion.
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on May 11, 2003 at 09:25:24 PT
Jerry Brown would make a great AG
could not get on the air to talk to Mr. Nader. the Washington Journal is on every day on C-Span Direct Tv Ch 350 if anyone wants to call and add input. very seldom is this subject heard on the air. they also acept emails. Mr. Nader mentioned the use of Industral Hemp as a means of more jobs and cleaning the water and air plus being renewable.
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Comment #2 posted by Lehder on May 11, 2003 at 07:33:53 PT
bigotry
>>The Medical Board was particularly offended at Mikuriya's sanctioning marijuana for a
   pregnant, 18-year-old anorexic. So let the mother enjoy a good appetite, let the baby grow, and let the Medical Board be offended.
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Comment #1 posted by michael on May 11, 2003 at 06:46:15 PT:
-----------Words------------ 
    It's recommendation, not prescription Jeff! 
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