cannabisnews.com: City Urges Police To Change Pot Policy





City Urges Police To Change Pot Policy
Posted by CN Staff on June 17, 2004 at 07:58:22 PT
Opinion
Source: Press-Telegram 
Hearing impassioned pleas from medical marijuana patients and advocates, the City Council this week asked the Long Beach Police Department to change a policy that essentially requires officers who see marijuana to arrest patients first and ask questions later.The council asked the police to return by Sept. 14 with a proposed new policy to eliminate what several residents said was unfair and inhumane treatment of medical marijuana patients. The city's current police policy calls for officers who come across someone with marijuana to seize any evidence and arrest or cite the person as appropriate. Medical marijuana patients can then prove their cases in court.
Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, makes it legal for patients to possess or cultivate marijuana for medical use. Several large cities in California already have sought to clarify local policy and resolve the conflicts triggered by Proposition 215. San Diego, for example, has issued guidelines that include carefully regulated identification cards for patients, as well as official parameters on possession and cultivation. Long Beach can, and should, do the same.The arrests and citations of local medical marijuana patients in recent years have been pointless and cruel. In some cases they have amounted to an incredible waste of court resources, police time and taxpayer money.Judges have dismissed all but one of the four Long Beach medical marijuana cases that have gone to trial. The other was overturned on appeal. One particularly troubling case involved a septuagenarian veteran with chronic hip pain who was arrested for growing some immature plants with a doctor's recommendation. The man was forced to pay attorneys' fees in more than two dozen court appearances while the case was tried, dismissed and refiled three times.The public doesn't want sick people arrested for using medical marijuana. A 2004 Field Poll found that 74 percent of Californians favor total legal protection for patients, a substantial increase from the already high 65 percent of voters who approved Proposition 215. Police departments don't need to waste their time going after marijuana patients.Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA)Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Los Angeles Newspaper GroupContact: speakout presstelegram.comWebsite: http://www.presstelegram.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedical Pot Smokers Sway City Councilhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19014.shtmlRx for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19004.shtmlBoost for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18021.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 17, 2004 at 10:15:09 PT
Related Article from The Press-Telegram 
Medical Use of MarijuanaJune 16, 2004Seven years have passed since the majority of California voters approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons, yet many sick patients still live in fear of arrest and prosecution. Because Long Beach's local policies have not been revised to match the state laws, sick people legally using marijuana are considered to be criminals. They're not.
The Public Safety Commission has asked the City Council to form a task force to study ways in which Long Beach can regulate the legal use of medical marijuana under Proposition 215, the state law approved by voters. As a result, the City Council this week had an opportunity to provide Long Beach, at last, with a resolution to conflicting medical marijuana laws. Several large cities in California already have implemented task forces that have sought to clarify local policy and resolve the conflicts triggered by Proposition 215. San Diego, for example, has issued guidelines that include carefully regulated identification cards for patients, as well as official parameters on possession and cultivation. Long Beach can, and should, do the same.The arrests and citations of local medical marijuana patients in recent years have been pointless, subjective and cruel. In some cases they have amounted to an incredible waste of court resources, police time and taxpayer money.Judges have dismissed all but one of the four Long Beach medical marijuana cases that have gone to trial. The other was overturned on appeal. One particularly troubling case involved a septuagenarian veteran with chronic hip pain who was arrested for growing some immature plants with a doctor's recommendation. The man was forced to pay attorneys' fees in more than two dozen court appearances while the case was tried, dismissed and refiled three times.The public doesn't want sick people arrested for using medical marijuana. A 2004 Field Poll found that 74 percent of Californians favor total legal protection for patients, a substantial increase from the already high 65 percent of voters who approved Proposition 215. Judges and juries are dismissing or rejecting nearly all of the medical marijuana cases that come before them. Police departments don't need to waste their time going after medical marijuana patients, and individual officers in the field should not have to decide which conflicting law to uphold.Maintaining the status quo is unacceptable, as lawful patients are subjected to humiliating and stressful arrests, and overtaxed public safety and judicial systems are further burdened.
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