cannabisnews.com: City Slow To Act on Law for Medical Marijuana 





City Slow To Act on Law for Medical Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on September 14, 2003 at 13:36:26 PT
By Jeff McDonald 
Source: SignOnSanDiego.com 
Seven months after the City Council approved medical marijuana guidelines, sick and dying patients in San Diego may get a law spelling out the rules under which they can grow the plant and use the drug. In a recent prepared response to questions from The San Diego Union-Tribune, Mayor Dick Murphy said the City Council would consider a medical marijuana ordinance Tuesday. 
The ordinance's supporters and a council member increasingly became concerned about the time between council approval of the guidelines and consideration of an actual law. Ordinances normally come back to local officials for approval within weeks of an initial vote. Murphy made his announcement Sept. 5. A few hours earlier, the City Attorney's Office said the mayor was given the proposed law weeks ago. On Sept. 4, the City Manager's Office said it was still reviewing the documents. In his statement, Murphy said he opposes medical marijuana but would not put off a vote. Councilwoman Toni Atkins, who has pushed for medical marijuana guidelines in San Diego, said she has been "a bit perturbed" by the lag between approval of the guidelines and the vote on the actual ordinance. Over the past months, city police officers have been relying on the guidelines to determine whether chronically ill pot smokers are complying with state law. Marijuana remains a federally banned narcotic. Medical marijuana supporters worked for years to get local politicians to implement the 1996 state law that legalized the drug for sick and dying patients. Advocates say pot relieves pain, stimulates appetite and reduces the side effects of some prescription medicines. San Diego became one of the largest cities in the nation to approve the medical use of marijuana in early February, when the council voted 6-3 in favor of guidelines that allow patients to possess up to a pound of marijuana and to grow up to 12 plants. Even though San Diego police have been working within the guidelines, activists say patients need the legal protections that go along with formally adding the standards to the municipal code. "Patients continually come up to me asking questions about where the ordinance is," said Michael Barbee of the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access, a marijuana advocacy group. "I have to tell these people the city has not really gone ahead with protecting the patients." Drug-abuse prevention advocates, who waged a fierce campaign opposing the San Diego policy, continue to try to convince council members that there is no legitimate use for marijuana. "The prevention and treatment community still know this is a dangerous thing," said Libba Jackson D'Ambrosi, who works with the San Dieguito Alliance for Drug-Free Youth. "It's treating something as medicine which is really just a plant." Other factors may have helped put off consideration, at least at first, of the medical marijuana ordinance. Former Police Chief David Bejarano, who strongly opposed the guidelines, agreed to take over the Southern District of the U.S. Marshals Service and resigned from the Police Department in April. His replacement, William Lansdowne, who had been police chief in San Jose, assumed command late last month. He supported efforts in Northern California to implement the state medical marijuana law. Also, the city of San Diego never financed its program to give medical marijuana users identification cards to show when questioned by police. The task force that drafted the guidelines is soliciting donations to raise the $25,000 or so it needs to pay for the cards. "We are a little bit frustrated," said Jerry Meier, chairman of the medical marijuana task force. "We got the guidelines passed and the verification cards passed, (then) we've kind of reached a standstill. "The City Council is holding up a vote on the ordinance because there's really no money to fund the card program." The City Manager's Office said much of the delay came because city lawyers were trying to craft precise language to limit the city's liability if federal agents decide to crack down on local governments with medical marijuana allowances. Ed Plank, who works under City Manager Michael Uberuaga, also said that when the guidelines were adopted in February, staff members sought to combine the ID-card rules and marijuana guidelines into one ordinance. Because the city is not paying for the cards and the task force has not found the money, there was no reason to expedite the draft ordinance, Plank said. The unrelated federal indictments last month of Councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis and Michael Zucchet – who all endorsed the marijuana guidelines – may affect the vote on the ordinance. With the intense publicity and scrutiny the three council members are receiving, it remains unclear whether they would continue to support a medical marijuana law while being prosecuted by the federal government. "This may not be the best time to bring this back for a vote," said medical marijuana task force member Juliana Humphrey. Claudia Little, a retired nurse from Point Loma who has become active in medical marijuana circles, said she is not surprised San Diego has been slow to follow through with adopting its ordinance. She said that across California, elected officials and even gubernatorial candidates pay lip service to Proposition 215, the voter-approved initiative that allows for the medical use of marijuana. "When it comes to having the guts to stand up to the federal government, nobody has done that," she said. "Everyone is afraid to actually implement this." Note: City Council approved guidelines 7 months ago.Source: SignOnSanDiego.com (CA)Author: Jeff McDonaldPublished: September 14, 2003Copyright: 2003 SignOnSanDiego.comWebsite: http://www.signonsandiego.com/Contact: http://www.signonsandiego.com/about/ut/contacts.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:Americans for Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org San Diego City Council OKs Pound of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15375.shtmlGuidelines Might OK Less Than 3 Poundshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15240.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on September 16, 2003 at 21:16:03 PT:
Donald Thornhill, Puppet of John P.
"I see people who are hurt, people who are sick, people who are dying. I say to myself, `What can I do to help?' This will let me sleep better at night," [Councilman Charles] Lewis said. Does this sound like a prepared, memorized propaganda sound bite? "Polly want a cracker." "No medical use." "Drug legalization." "Squawk." "Quack."ego transcendence follows ego destruction, God bless those who see the light about the blessings of the healing herb. 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 16, 2003 at 19:25:37 PT
News Brief from The SanDiegoChannel.com
Council Passes Medical Use Of MarijuanaMayor, 2 Councilmen Vote Against OrdinanceSeptember 16, 2003SAN DIEGO -- On a 6-3 vote, the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday that spells out rules under which sick and dying patients can grow and smoke marijuana. The ordinance allows a patient to possess a pound of processed marijuana and up to 24 unharvested plants. A caregiver would be allowed to keep up to 48 unharvested plants and could have as much as two pounds of the processed drug in his or her possession. Only indoor cultivation of the drug would be permitted; public growing and usage would be barred. Each individual patient would be issued a verification card bearing the name of the cardholder, a serial number, cardholder's photo and card expiration date. "This was a difficult issue. It took some persuading to get me to support it," said Councilman Charles Lewis, who voted for the ordinance. "As a leader in the city, I have to stand up and do what I think is right. "I see people who are hurt, people who are sick, people who are dying. I say to myself, `What can I do to help?' This will let me sleep better at night," Lewis said. The votes against the ordinance were cast by Mayor Dick Murphy and Councilmen Jim Madaffer and Brian Maienschein. "I still think what we're doing here is not a good idea," Murphy said just before the vote. "The ordinance is inconsistent with federal law. It sends a bad message that the use of drugs is OK. I cannot support it." The vote came seven months after the council voted -- also 6-3 -- in favor of guidelines that allow patients to possess up to a pound of marijuana and to grow up to 24 plants. San Diego police have been relying on the guidelines to determine if chronically ill pot smokers are complying with state law. Even though San Diego police have been working within the guidelines, activists say patients need the legal protections that go along with formally adding the standards to the municipal code. More than three dozen people on either side of the issue addressed the Council during the public comment portion of the meeting, hoping to sway opinion one way or the other. Opponents said they were afraid that if people were allowed to grow the drug themselves, it could fall into the wrong hands, such as teenagers, criminals and drug addicts. Donald Thornhill, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego, was strongly against the ordinance. "It really amounts to de facto legalization of drugs," the 20-year DEA veteran told the Council. "There is no medical use for marijuana -- none whatsoever. Period. It's nothing more than drug legalization." Susan Wilcox, OF Carmel Valley, SAID the ordinance would contribute to the "rampant" drug abuse that was "ripping apart" her community. Other speakers, many with debilitating medical conditions, spoke on behalf of the ordinance, saying they were not trying to have the drug legalized, just to be available as a medicine. http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/politics/2489525/detail.html
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