cannabisnews.com: Distribution For Medical Use May Get Endorsement!





Distribution For Medical Use May Get Endorsement!
Posted by FoM on June 18, 1999 at 07:23:23 PT
Article Published On May 27th!
Source: San Mateo County Times
A state task force could agree on a plan for legal distribution of medical marijuana as early as today, a spokesman for the group said Wednesday.
At the least, a legislative bill containing the task force's proposal should come up within a few weeks. Its passage could reduce a major obstacle to implementing Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot measure that expressed California voters' will to allow use of marijuana as medicine.But whatever the state does, the federal government still holds a trump card -- the Controlled Substances Act, which still lists marijuana as a dangerous, addictive and medically non-useful drug. And federal efforts to move marijuana to a less restrictive category, or schedule, seem to have stalled for the moment."No matter what we come up with, we're going to be in a dilemma until the feds reschedule -- that's just a given," said Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu, whose boss, District Attorney George Kennedy, co-chairs California's medical marijuana task force."Obviously, all our prayers would be answered if it would be rescheduled," she said. "Everyone is in agreement that a pharmacy would be the ideal place to dispense marijuana, and that could happen once it goes into another schedule."But the state can't sit on its hands waiting for Washington to act, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Inaction while awaiting rescheduling "is an exercise in folly if you're looking for something to be at least partially implemented before we're too far into the next century," he said."What's happening in the meanwhile is that people are running around making it up as they go along, and that's no good."That has been the case since Proposition 215 authorized medical use of marijuana in 1996 without providing a way for patients to get it legally.Cannabis buyers clubs sprung up, only to be closed by federal and state agencies as unauthorized dealers. Local police and prosecutors have had no guidance for dealing with buyers clubs, farms and even personal possession, so enforcement has been piecemeal.But Lockyer and Gov. Gray Davis have taken a much more sympathetic stance than their Republican predecessors, and Lockyer convened the task force to develop statewide enforcement standards and a distribution framework."We have met four times as a full task force, and there have been working groups and drafting committees that have met regularly in between," said Rand Martin, chief of staff to state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, and co-chairman of the task force with Kennedy.The task force, comprised of everyone from patients to pot growers to police to physicians, meets again this afternoon in Sacramento to dissect the latest proposal."It is possible that the task force could come to agreement tomorrow on most if not all provisions of the draft," Martin said Wednesday, adding it's just as likely task force members will have to go back to their respective organizations for final approval. "I'm not sure how many of them have authority to immediately adopt something."Martin, Sinunu and Barankin wouldn't discuss any specifics of the draft proposal Wednesday.Vasconcellos has already introduced a bill to which the task force's plan will be added. Sinunu said she expects that will happen "within two weeks."U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., has introduced a bill to move marijuana to a less restrictive drug schedule.Frank's spokesman said Wednesday the bill is lying dormant in a House committee with no forecast of movement in the foreseeable future.A rider attached to the federal omnibus budget bill told the Food and Drug Administration to report to Congress on efforts to enforce federal rules on marijuana and other Schedule I drugs.The report was due within 90 days of the bill's signing last October; it hasn't been delivered yet.News article found by Cryote!Thank You, Cryote!
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