cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Limit Increase May Go To Voters





Medical Marijuana Limit Increase May Go To Voters
Posted by CN Staff on April 29, 2004 at 09:10:57 PT
By Sam Schramski, Contributing Writer
Source: Daily Californian
Medical marijuana advocates may take their cause to voters in November, after the Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to table an amendment to city cannabis laws that would raise the legal amount of pot plants that can be grown indoors. The amendment, which was proposed last week by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, would raise the number of plants from 10 to 72, placing Berkeley in line with Oakland’s cannabis laws.
The new limit would make it easier for patients who use marijuana to treat their illnesses, while staying within the boundaries of the law, advocates said. “The idea is that your average medical marijuana patient wants to obey the law,” said Don Duncan, president of the Alliance of Berkeley Patients, a medical marijuana advocacy group. “By setting the plant limit so low, it’s guaranteeing that patients can’t follow the law, and that’s bad public policy.” But other city officials, including Berkeley police Chief Roy Meisner, expressed concern over raising the limits and the use of medicinal marijuana in general. The council voted 5-2 to table the amendment, with two abstentions. The amendment will appear before council again after its language is aligned with state law by city staff. Meisner said he was reluctant to increase any kind of plant production because of a recent spate of drug-related robberies and deaths. With an increase in production comes a greater profit motive for marijuana buyers and sellers, Meisner said. Councilmember Margaret Breland, whose district has one medical marijuana dispensary and another one seeking a permit, called into question the medical necessity for cannabis at all. “Me and my daughter have a compelling need for marijuana with our illnesses and we don’t use it,” Breland said. “That’s what medicine and doctors are for.” But the audience in the council chambers was filled with people afflicted by debilitating, and in some cases terminal, illnesses ranging from multiple sclerosis to Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. They said they used the marijuana because they did not want to resort to traditional medicine. “It hurts me that I have to get toxic drugs when I can’t use a simple herb, a weed thing,” said Billy Teegus, who has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. The marijuana proponents said they are already planning to begin circulating a petition to put an initiative on the November ballot to allow voters to decide, because they don’t think the council will pass their amendment. “We think that the people of Berkeley are a little more willing to go forward with medical cannabis than politicians, and that’s generally always the trend,” Duncan said.Source: Daily Californian, The (CA Edu)Author: Sam Schramski, Contributing WriterPublished: Thursday, April 29, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Daily CalifornianContact: opinion dailycal.orgWebsite: http://www.dailycal.org/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCouncil Threatened With Med Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18723.shtmlBerkeley May Raise Pot Limit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18713.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on April 29, 2004 at 11:27:51 PT:
"...limits set low". Ah, but that's the point
Indeed it is...to continue to provide Officer Jack Boot with an easy collar, instead of chasing known murderers that shoot back.Sure, cannabis is prolific...if given the chance. But as someone who had grown outside years ago under less than ideal situations (the great Mid-Atlantic Heatwave of 1994) I can attest that conditions are rarely so accomodating as to provide perfect weather or relief from insect scourges. If redundency is just fine for Mother Nature, why not for her Children? Why not more plants to cover the possibility of (sadly, inevitable) losses? Only makes sense...or so you'd think.And as to making sense? *Meisner said he was reluctant to increase any kind of plant production because of a recent spate of drug-related robberies and deaths.*(Ahem) Now, why would it be profitable to steal or kill for a weed, Chief? Maybe because of the FRIGGIN' STUPID LAWS MAKING ITS' COMMERCE SO LUCRATIVE FOR THE BAD GUYS? I am reminded once again of the story told here of a police academy applicant who was turned down because he was *too* intelligent. Evidently, only denizens from the shallow end of the gene pool need apply for such positions. And we pay for these people's salaries from our taxes? This does not exactly inspire much confidence...
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