News
Government
Jul. 30, 2002
Smoke From Medi-Pot Policy Debate Casts Haze, Sparks Headache
Column by Garry Abrams -The winds of change are blowing a lot of dope smoke lately. From California to Nevada to Washington, D.C., to London, you can almost smell the burning hemp as judges, lawmakers and marijuana activists fire up - or advocate firing up - policy changes regarding the [mostly] illegal, intoxicating plant that will grow nearly anywhere.
By Garry Abrams
The winds of change are blowing a lot of dope smoke lately.
From California to Nevada to Washington, D.C., to London, you can almost smell the burning hemp as judges, lawmakers and marijuana activists fire up - or advocate firing up - policy changes regarding the [mostly] illegal, intoxicating plant that will grow nearly anywhere.
Last week, for instance, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a November ballot measure that will ask voters to allow the city to study the possibility of growing its own pot, strictly for medicinal purposes, of course.
San Francisco's marijuana move came only days after a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users are immune from prosecution in state courts so long as the users have a doctor's prescription for pot. The ruling upheld the trailblazing medical-marijuana initiative passed by California voters in 1996. Since then seven other states have passed medical-marijuana laws that allow doctors to prescribe cannabis to ease the pain of diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
The state Supreme Court's decision contradicted a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that held that California's medical-marijuana clubs were selling snake oil and didn't deserve an exemption from federal law.
[For the record, I note that the law is infinitely malleable and that sometimes disputes should be settled by tag-team mud-wrestling contests between judges who issue conflicting opinions. Also, the country at the moment seems more preoccupied with fast food as a pressing threat to the nation's health than marijuana. So, fear of saturated fat in cheeseburgers may be giving a de facto boost to marijuana, whose supporters are not infrequently vegetarians. ]
Indisputably, marijuana possession for any reason remains illegal under federal law. The Drug Enforcement Administration asserts that pot clubs are thinly disguised drug distribution centers. Thus, the San Francisco ballot measure is a riposte to the federal government, which has been cracking down on California pot clubs.
In October, for example, federal drug agents raided and shut down the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in West Hollywood, reportedly uprooting 400 marijuana plants and hauling off growing lights and office equipment.
"They've taken our bank account, our computers, our building," George Leddy, who served on the center's board of directors, told me.
Leddy added, though, that the California Supreme Court's decision on medical marijuana was a morale booster for club members, who last week used the decision as a sign that club members could cease the weekly protests they have staged since last fall's federal raid.
Despite relief from the state Supreme Court, Leddy conceded that federal authorities may have other moves up their sleeves.
"There have been no inducements that we know of," Leddy said, referring to statements by federal officials that club members might be prosecuted.
Leddy said he is encouraged that support for medical marijuana is making an appearance in Washington, D.C.
Last week, medical-marijuana advocates from a broad political spectrum went to show their support for a medical marijuana bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Barney Frank. Supporters included Lyn Nofziger, a former aide to President Reagan, and conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacker of Huntington Beach.
The Washington confab came only a week or so after the British government said it would decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana, extending a European trend of drug use tolerance.
But it's the state of Nevada that could take the marijuana issue into uncharted, hazy territory. Voters there will decide in November whether to approve an ballot initiative that legalizes possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana.
White House drug czar John Walters flew to Las Vegas last week, where he gave a speech opposing the initiative. If Nevada passed the law, the state could become a center for "drug tourism," much as have Amsterdam and parts of Switzerland where drug use is legal, Walters said.
On the other hand, Walters said he did not foresee the federal government launching a campaign to enforce federal marijuana possession laws in Nevada, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Without equivocation, I can definitely say that marijuana gives me a headache.
The winds of change are blowing a lot of dope smoke lately.
From California to Nevada to Washington, D.C., to London, you can almost smell the burning hemp as judges, lawmakers and marijuana activists fire up - or advocate firing up - policy changes regarding the [mostly] illegal, intoxicating plant that will grow nearly anywhere.
Last week, for instance, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a November ballot measure that will ask voters to allow the city to study the possibility of growing its own pot, strictly for medicinal purposes, of course.
San Francisco's marijuana move came only days after a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana users are immune from prosecution in state courts so long as the users have a doctor's prescription for pot. The ruling upheld the trailblazing medical-marijuana initiative passed by California voters in 1996. Since then seven other states have passed medical-marijuana laws that allow doctors to prescribe cannabis to ease the pain of diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
The state Supreme Court's decision contradicted a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that held that California's medical-marijuana clubs were selling snake oil and didn't deserve an exemption from federal law.
[For the record, I note that the law is infinitely malleable and that sometimes disputes should be settled by tag-team mud-wrestling contests between judges who issue conflicting opinions. Also, the country at the moment seems more preoccupied with fast food as a pressing threat to the nation's health than marijuana. So, fear of saturated fat in cheeseburgers may be giving a de facto boost to marijuana, whose supporters are not infrequently vegetarians. ]
Indisputably, marijuana possession for any reason remains illegal under federal law. The Drug Enforcement Administration asserts that pot clubs are thinly disguised drug distribution centers. Thus, the San Francisco ballot measure is a riposte to the federal government, which has been cracking down on California pot clubs.
In October, for example, federal drug agents raided and shut down the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in West Hollywood, reportedly uprooting 400 marijuana plants and hauling off growing lights and office equipment.
"They've taken our bank account, our computers, our building," George Leddy, who served on the center's board of directors, told me.
Leddy added, though, that the California Supreme Court's decision on medical marijuana was a morale booster for club members, who last week used the decision as a sign that club members could cease the weekly protests they have staged since last fall's federal raid.
Despite relief from the state Supreme Court, Leddy conceded that federal authorities may have other moves up their sleeves.
"There have been no inducements that we know of," Leddy said, referring to statements by federal officials that club members might be prosecuted.
Leddy said he is encouraged that support for medical marijuana is making an appearance in Washington, D.C.
Last week, medical-marijuana advocates from a broad political spectrum went to show their support for a medical marijuana bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Barney Frank. Supporters included Lyn Nofziger, a former aide to President Reagan, and conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacker of Huntington Beach.
The Washington confab came only a week or so after the British government said it would decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana, extending a European trend of drug use tolerance.
But it's the state of Nevada that could take the marijuana issue into uncharted, hazy territory. Voters there will decide in November whether to approve an ballot initiative that legalizes possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana.
White House drug czar John Walters flew to Las Vegas last week, where he gave a speech opposing the initiative. If Nevada passed the law, the state could become a center for "drug tourism," much as have Amsterdam and parts of Switzerland where drug use is legal, Walters said.
On the other hand, Walters said he did not foresee the federal government launching a campaign to enforce federal marijuana possession laws in Nevada, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Without equivocation, I can definitely say that marijuana gives me a headache.
#337205
Garry Abrams
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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