cannabisnews.com: The Land Prop. 215 Forgot The Land Prop. 215 Forgot Posted by FoM on May 17, 2001 at 07:14:43 PT By Sam McManis Source: San Francisco Chronicle Out here in the suburbs, medical marijuana users don't just get stoned -- they often get stonewalled. This is not San Francisco or Oakland, where your friendly neighborhood cannabis clubs can seem as ubiquitous as 7-Elevens, and as conveniently located, too. No, out here, the whole process can be a real trip. At least it is for Mark Barnes, a 42-year-old quadriplegic from Pleasanton who says he needs marijuana to quell spasms so painful and intense they could knock him out of his bed in the morning. Whenever Barnes needs a "refill," his wife, Kathy, has to find a sitter for the couple's 6-year-old daughter. Then she will lift Mark out of his wheelchair for the trip to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, where workers will check his doctors' referral card and send him to other area sellers who can fill his prescription. "I don't think marijuana cooperatives will ever come out this way," said Barnes, a former construction worker paralyzed 12 years ago when he fell off a platform in Oakland. "And now, it's going to be tough even to get it at all. We're going to have to go underground again. It's a real hassle." In the aftermath of Monday's Supreme Court ruling that federal authorities can shut down marijuana distribution centers, users elsewhere in the state soon may experience the logistical and legal difficulties medicinal marijuana patients in Contra Costa and the Tri-Valley have long faced. Soon, Barnes and others may have to return to the bad old days of obtaining pot either from a dealer on the street or by growing their own. More than 20 marijuana distribution centers have sprouted in the state since Proposition 215 passed in 1996, and, until Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal law trumps state initiatives, there was little threat of any of them being smoked out by the feds. Not so, however, in Contra Costa and the Tri-Valley, where medical pot advocates remain underground and sometimes are arrested for growing plants at home with a doctor's permission. They see the county as not being pot-friendly despite widespread public support -- 63 percent voted in favor of 215 -- in the county for medical marijuana use. Some now worry that Contra Costa's model of dealing or avoiding having to deal with medical marijuana may become the norm. "They don't make it easy out here for someone," Barnes said. "Ask anyone." Take the case of Martinez advocate Bob Judd. Since 1997, Judd has worked on opening a marijuana dispensary in downtown, but he says city officials have blocked his efforts through delays and inaction and a strict ordinance that states a center cannot be within 1,000 feet of a school or park and within 300 feet of a residence. Police Chief Dave Cutaia, who handles enforcement of the ordinance, said his understanding was that Judd never asked for a use permit for a specific site and that he was given information "like any other business trying to open in Martinez," Cutaia said. Judd said he felt Proposition 215 was more legally binding than Martinez's ordinance, "so I went ahead and became a caregiver to about 10 to 15 people, gave them the medicine they needed. It's been five years and no one messed with me." The same could not be said for 43-year-old medical marijuana advocate Ken Estes, who was charged last July with cultivation and possession for sale after Concord police seized 1,500 plants from his home. Estes, paralyzed since a motorcycle accident two decades ago, has a preliminary hearing set for Wednesday in Superior Court in Martinez. He said he ran a dispensary for about 300 patients, nothing more. Last December, Crockett medical marijuana user Mike Lee was arrested for cultivating 100 plants. Charges were never filed against Lee, but he says that he was evicted by his landlord because of his arrest and that he cannot afford to grow plants anymore. He goes to Oakland for his marijuana, which he uses for chronic gastritis. "In Contra Costa," Lee said, "they pretend Prop. 215 never passed." Judd says he has ceased dispensing marijuana to patients after the Supreme Court ruling, but Estes continues to sell from his new location in Berkeley. "I'm willing to risk my freedom to give people a choice in treatment," Estes said. "I'm no drug dealer." Contra Costa Deputy District Attorney Phyllis Franks declined to talk about Estes' case. But Barnes says he will testify that Estes gave him and his wife plants so that he could avoid the trek into Oakland to obtain marijuana. Though Barnes says he no longer grows marijuana at his Pleasanton home, he said a home-grown operation is preferable to traveling to Oakland or San Francisco. "This Supreme Court decision is scaring the crap out of me," Barnes said. "I'd like those justices to come to my house and see me try to get out of bed in the morning without the pot. I tried taking (FDA-approved) Baclofen for the spasms, but it didn't work like just a few hits (of marijuana). In minutes, I stop shaking." A drug that effective, Barnes said, he cannot live without. "I'm not some potheaded bad person," he said. "I just want to get up in the morning." Sam McManis' column appears in The Chronicle on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. He can be reached at: smcmanis sfchronicle.comNote: Pot a different story outside the cities.Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Sam McManisPublished: Thursday, May 17, 2001 Copyright: 2001 San Francisco ChronicleContact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/O.C.B.C. Versus The U.S. Government News http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/mj.htmCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by michael on May 17, 2001 at 09:49:28 PT: And then again--------- maybe I should learn how to spell:-) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by michael on May 17, 2001 at 09:47:56 PT: Potheaded bad person!!!!!!!!! Don't care for that statement. What is a ootheaded bad person and even worse, am I one in his eyes. It seems that Mr. Barnes of all people should step back and reorganize his brain housing group. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: