cannabisnews.com: Lode Tackles Medical Pot Haze Lode Tackles Medical Pot Haze Posted by FoM on September 06, 2000 at 11:31:03 PT By Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief Source: Stockton Record Calaveras County supervisors Tuesday night considered a set of guidelines to help policy makers and law enforcement officials cope with the clouded issue of medicinal marijuana. The county's Medical Marijuana Task Force -- comprised of doctors, pharmacists, law enforcement officials and one patient who uses marijuana to relieve problems associated with a tumor -- developed the local guidelines during the course of four meetings over six-months. The board approved several of the recommendations and was considering others late Tuesday night. The guidelines, which are not legally binding, were developed to help local law enforcement officials and medical marijuana users follow the proper legal paths in the wake of the passage of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The voter-approved initiative made it legal for people suffering from certain serious medical conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's approval or recommendation. The development of local guidelines was pushed by Angels Camp resident David Jack, who uses marijuana to counter the effects of a brain-stem tumor. Jack was concerned local residents with a legal right to grow and use marijuana for medical reasons were being persecuted and asked county officials to draft guidelines to stop the harassment and let both law enforcement and medical marijuana users know what's acceptable in terms of usage and possession. At Jack's request, the board created the task force earlier this year. The task force made four recommendations, but the one that attracted most of the attention was a proposed interagency protocol to help law enforcement determine which cases merit investigation for marijuana possession and/or sales and which cases appear to be legal possession under Prop. 215. The task force could not agree on the amount of marijuana a patient or primary caregiver should be able to possess or cultivate for medicinal purposes. The group voted 10-3 in favor of the protocol, which -- among other things -- would allow legal medical marijuana patients or their primary caregivers to have three flowering and three non-flowering plants and 1.3 pounds of processed marijuana. Jack said those limits won't work for him and many other medical marijuana patients. He suggested the limits be set at 25 plants and 4 pounds. "If there's any illegal activity, investigate and prosecute," he said. Sheriff Dennis Downum, who called Prop. 215 a "horribly written law that is full of pitfalls," asked the board not to take action on the interagency protocol because the public might consider the board's endorsement as something that's "somehow written in stone." District Attorney Peter Smith said the guidelines would be a factor -- but not be the ultimate factor -- in whether or not he decided to file criminal charges. As of press time, the board had not made a decision on the interagency protocol. In addition to the protocol, the task force recommended the board lobby state officials to establish statewide standards and policies for implementing Prop. 215 and also continue its support for the state Medical Marijuana Research Project. The task force also presented medical recommendations on the use of medical marijuana, essentially a position paper drafted by Drs. Rodger Orman, Ryan Thompson, Paul Jacobson and Jakob Jaggy. The board accepted that paper on a 3-2 vote, with Chairman Tom Tryon and Supervisor Terri Bailey casting dissenting votes. The doctors concluded the use of marijuana should primarily be considered a "comfort measure" in the care of a terminal patient with a life expectancy of less than one year. * To reach Lode Bureau Chief Francis P. Garland, phone 736-9554 or e-mail garnel goldrush.com Published: Wednesday, September 6, 2000 Source: Record, The (CA)Copyright: 2000 The RecordContact: editor recordnet.comAddress: P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95201Fax: (209) 547-8186Website: http://www.recordnet.com/Related Article:Medical Marijuana Task Force Debates Amount http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6813.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives: http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 06, 2000 at 12:11:49 PT Alternative Medicine - Marijuana Poll Last week President Clinton Colombian anti-drug facilities Wednesday as he staged a daylong visit to Colombia under heavy security to show support for Colombia's war against drugs and Marxist rebels. Clinton's limousine was preceded by an anti-explosives truck, nine police motorcycle escorts and two armor-plated U.S. Secret Service vehicles. More than 5,000 Colombian soldiers and police, 350 U.S. Secret Service agents, helicopter gunships and Navy patrol boats were drafted into the city to protect Clinton during his nine-hour trip. Clinton's mission was to display solidarity with Colombian President Andres Pastrana and his $7.5 billion anti-drug plan, to which the United States is contributing $1.3 billion.Not all United States politicians are as gung-ho on our "War on Drugs." Just a week before Clinton's visit to Columbia, New Mexico's Republican Governor Gary Johnson addressed some of his constituents, saying: "I made you all a pledge that I was going to put the issues that should be on the front burner on the front burner, regardless of the consequences," he says. "Half of what we spend on law enforcement, half of what we spend on the courts and half of what we spend on the prisons is drug related. Our current policies on drugs are perhaps the biggest problem that this country has."Last year, Johnson said, 450,000 people died from smoking cigarettes. Alcohol killed 150,000, and another 100,000 died from legal prescription drugs. How many people died last year from the use of marijuana? Few, if any. From cocaine and heroin? Five thousand. Yet, Johnson pointed out, nearly 80 million Americans have tried recreational drugs, including more than half of this year's graduating high school class. While not condoning this, he asked: should our kids really be branded "criminals" for having experimented with drugs? If they're not driving or stealing while high, what is the harm?"Yet we are arresting 1.5 million people a year in this country on drug-related crime," Johnson said. "Half of those arrests are for marijuana, and half those arrested are Hispanics. Tell me that half the users of marijuana in the United States of America are Hispanic! I don't think so We ought to legalize marijuana. We need to stop 'getting tough' with drugs.".Our question for this week is:Should the United States legalize the use of marijuana?http://www.alternativemedicine.com/poll/Current Poll Results: QuestionShould the United States legalize the use of marijuana?TotalVote132 Yes. 93(70.4%) No. 39(29.5%) http://www.alternativemedicine.com/cgi-bin/poll/opinion_poll.pl?comments [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: