cannabisnews.com: Californians Try To Recall Anti-Pot DAs





Californians Try To Recall Anti-Pot DAs
Posted by FoM on April 03, 2001 at 06:47:38 PT
By Thomas D. Elias, Special Correspondent
Source: Newsday
San Rafael, Calif.-Medical marijuana advocates who won public approval of their cause in a 1996 California ballot initiative now are turning to recall campaigns against county prosecutors who refuse to accept the legalization of "medipot." Already, activists for the American Medical Marijuana Association have qualified a recall of Marin County District Attorney Pamela Kamena for a May 22 vote. 
They're also circulating recall petitions in neighboring Sonoma County, where District Attorney Michael Mullins is about to try a group of local pot growers who say they sell exclusively to the San Francisco Cannabis Users Cooperative, a medipot users group that's legally recognized by the city of San Francisco. The activists have served "official warnings" on half a dozen other district attorneys, threatening recall campaigns if they don't cease prosecuting patients who smoke marijuana to ease the pain and nausea of some illnesses, and the dealers and growers who provide them with pot. "We see recall actions as a means of convincing local prosecutors to comply with Proposition 215," said Steve Kubby, founder of the medical marijuana association. "This isn't a vindictive thing on the part of patients. It's a matter of survival." But opponents say it's just a case of pot users wanting to coerce law enforcement into letting them do their thing-whether for medical purposes or not. The initiative, which legalized the use of pot by patients with a doctor's recommendation, passed in 1996 by 56 percent to 44 percent and has produced confusion and controversy ever since. Some U.S. attorneys and judges and many local sheriffs and prosecutors refused to recognize it. One of the district attorneys who has been warned of impending recall is Bradford Fenocchio, who supervised the prosecution of Kubby and his wife for marijuana possession in Placer County, near Reno, Nev. Kubby's physician testified that he needs pot to combat a rare form of adrenal cancer. The case ended in a hung jury on all felony charges, and prosecutors said they wouldn't retry it. The recall in leafy Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, comes despite what Kamena calls her "progressive view" about medipot. Her office has issued guidelines exempting small amounts of pot from possession prosecutions. "These people want you to believe this is about medical marijuana," she said at a news conference. "It is not. This process is about the rule of law and the entire legal process." She wondered publicly if the funds for the recall drive, which cost about $15,000, came from drug dealers, something Kubby denied. Lynette Shaw, director of the medical marijuana association's Marin County branch, responded that even when medipot patients are not prosecuted, authorities in the county frequently confiscate their supplies. "After they get arrested and lose their pot and go through all these hoops, only then are they let go," she said. "Paula Kamena gave the green light to the cops. They're harassing these poor patients to death." Other district attorneys who have been warned by the medipot advocates include those in El Dorado, Orange and Shasta counties. Opponents of the Marin County recall say the petition signature drive that qualified the issue for a vote was misleading. The petitions, they say, did not mention medipot, but attacked Kamena for prosecuting a woman convicted of falsifying a court document in a child custody case. Retired county Judge William Stephens, a Kamena supporter, maintains, "The primary interest of those seeking to advance the petition is to have the district attorney look away when marijuana is used." Note: Warn against prosecuting medical marijuana patients.Source: Newsday (NY)Author: Thomas D. Elias, Special CorrespondentPublished: Tuesday, April 4, 2001Copyright: 2001 Newsday Inc.Contact: letters newsday.comWebsite: http://www.newsday.com/Related Articles & Web Sites: Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana http://www.cbcmarin.com/Americal Medical Marijuana Associationhttp://americanmarijuana.org/Marin D.A. Calls Foes Thuggishhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8603.shtmlMedical Pot Backers Warn of More Recalls http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8565.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: