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Volume 2 # 3. August 2004
Welcome to the
Safe Access
Now Newsletter
List
This is one in a series of newsletters to let you know
the status of the Safe Access Now medical marijuana garden
guidelines campaign. For more information on our project and
the science behind it, please visit our website (link
above).
These newsletters are issued
on an occasional basis. To
subscribe drop a
note with the subject "Subscribe SAN" to
chris@chrisconrad.com to be added to our list for future
issues. To
unsubscribe from
this newsletter send a message with the subject "Unsubscribe
SAN." Feel free to forward to interested
people.
Contents:
- Local SAN
updates
- Private and
public agencies
- Who we
are
- SAN
Guideline basics
- Donate to
SAN
- SAN
newsletter archives
Late Breaking News:
Governor vetoes SB 1494, medical marijuana cleanup bill
Despite vowing to support medical marijuana, Governor
Schwartzenegger again broke another campaign promise by
vetoing the "cleanup" bill for SB
420, signed last fall by his Democratic predecessor in
office. This is actually a mixed bag for patients because
the way that the bill worked was to reassert that patients
can have any amount consistent with their medical need,
already established by Prop 215 and the Trippett
decision. However, it also removed some protections
intended only for cardholders that had accidentally been
extended to all qualified patients. Instead, HS
11362.7 will stand unchanged, as passed by the
legislature last year. In other words, the state default
amount remains at six mature or 12 immature plants and eight
ounces of dried bud or conversion per patient.
Local SAN Updates: City and
county reports
When SB 420 was first raised as a proposal, it caused
many of the local proposals to be scrapped as localities.
When the bill authorized 6 pounds of cannabis, we thought
our work was done. After the DA's association got that
guideline reduced by 92% during the dark of night after
there were supposed to be no changes, local governments used
that unfair default amount as an excuse to stop considering
patient's rights. However, during the past six months or so
we have had important movement around the state as we press
our campaign for Safe Access Now.
For this issue we wanted to give local chapters a say in
what's going on around the state so we can learn from and
support each other in this campaign for medical rights.
Below are some of the highlights based on local reports. If
your information is not listed here or if you have something
new to contribute, please drop
me a line and we'll include it in the next
newsletter.
Del Norte County -- SAN
representative Doug
McCarty has gotten assurances that the current
guidelines are in no danger of being scaled back in the wake
of SB 420. Likewise, the numbers are not likely to be
increased there, so patients are highly recommended to get a
physician's
letter
of exemption if they need to keep more than one pound of
bud at a time.
Humboldt County -- After
months of uncertainty, the County Task Force returned to the
Supervisors with a proposal to maintain the SAN-style
guidelines of three pounds processed plus a garden area of
up to 100 square feet per patient. The TF had considered
amounts of up to six pounds and 200 square feet, but
ultimately fell back to the amounts agreed to last year by
SAN and DA Paul Gallegos. The Supervisors voted
unanimously to accept the guidelines. The main distinction
from the previous version, other than being approved by the
Board, is that it eliminates the limits on lamp wattage and
the reference to 99 plants in favor of allowing any amount
of plants. The 99-plant issue, which has proven hot in such
discussions, is based on federal sentencing guidelines and
is not an element of the question of garden size and
yields.
This policy is a vindication of the SAN guidelines and
also the most hard-fought policy in the state, involving a
DA's policy, a recall election, modifications to the state
law to protect it, a referral to the Board, appointment of a
taskforce, five months of very hard taskforce work, and now
an approval by the Supervisors. As far as we are aware, this
is the first county guideline s to be aproved by any
Supervisors since the passage of SB 420. Special recognition
goes to SAN representative Jason
Fishbain and TF members Eric
Heimstadt, Ellen
Komp of CLMP, and patient and advocate Rhonda
Olson. It was Supervisor Roger Rodoni who
introduced the ordinance, which has a final reading and vote
before becoming county policy. The DA's office has already
dropped several cases based on the new policy. Police
agencies in towns such as Eureka have stated that they
refuse to abide by the policy, which may see class action
and individual lawsuits against police as a result of the
failure to protect patients' rights. If any patients are
charged for amounts less than those in the county guidelines
and without evidence of sales, please have them contact SAN,
the Civil
Liberties Monitoring Project or the Medical
Marijuana Patients' Union to see if we can help them
arrange a counter-suit to collect damages from Eureka or
whichever jurisdiction is to blame.
Kern Co. -- After
years of hard work by SAN representative Joe
Fortt, including an appearance at the Board
of Supervisors last fall, DA Edward Jagels has
announced a policy to allow Prop 215 patients up to 49
plants and 2 pounds of medical marijuana, provided there are
no indicia of sales. The policy was announced in a March 17
memorandum distributed to Kern Co. officials. Medical
marijuana supporters are seeking to have the guidelines
considered by the county Board of Supervisors. Special
thanks to Joe as well as DC
Dustin Costa and attorney William
McPike for filing papers to get access to these
documents. McPike is well known for his efforts to use the
demurrer to help medical marijuana patients get charges
dropped against them, and DC is the organizer of the
Weedstock gatherings that include legal trainings for
patients. Fortt is now collecting signatures to get
the Board of Supervisors to pass an ordinance memorializing
the countywide policy as 6 pounds and 200 square feet and up
to 99 plants per patient. He said he expects to submit
letters of support this Fall. Fortt is also pursuing being
appointed as the designated operator of a patient ID program
that will be web-based for regular access. More petitioners
are needed to ensure a good outcome, so if you can help
please drop
Fortt an email.
City of Long Beach -- After
having it brought to their attention that the City Police
had an official policy of disregarding doctor's
recommendations and arresting all patients for medical
marijuana, the City Council took action and ordered the
police to come up with a new policy of tolerance. Acting on
complaints from medical users, Councilmen Dan Baker
(Second) and Val Lerch (Ninth) brought the issue to
the council. "My concern is that we have had a state law on
the books for eight years and it is my strong belief that we
have not been following that law," Baker said. Special
thanks to SAN activists and community advocates Diana
Lejins, Bill
Britt, and David Zink for getting the City to
take action.
City of Oakland -- Once the
bright spot on the state medical marijuana map, the City of
Oakland has somewhat degenerated into a political fiefdom of
agencies. On the one hand, the Council has voted to keep the
individual guidelines in place for qualified patients and
their caregivers while adopting a pro-rata HS 11362.77(a)
guideline for collectives and dispensaries. A proposal to
reduce the dozen or so Downtown dispensaries to one location
was moved up to allow 4 clubs, but due to heavy-handed
regulations and incompetent handling by those in charge of
implementing the program, only three dispensaries have been
given permits, and one of them had to move its main location
to a secondary site. Several of the dispensaries that were
not granted permits have refused to close down, and the
City's role in any federal cases is subject to question.
Recently there was a raid on what was reported as being the
largest indoor garden in Oakland history -- a garden that
was associated with one of the local dispensaries, although
published details remain hazy. In light of the confusion,
SAN director Chris
Conrad spoke in favor of a city initiative to
regulate and tax all sales of cannabis to adults in the City
as being the most realistic way to protect access to
cannabis for patients who do not have the interest or
ability to grow their own medicine. That measure, the
Oakland Cannabis
Initiative, has qualified for the November City
Ballot. San Francisco and other localities are considering
similar proposals, depending on the outcome of that
vote.
City of San Diego -- The
city medical marijuana taskforce has stopped holding regular
meetings with no modification to the current guidelines. At
the final meeting, a law enforcement representative
indicated that care is being taken to check for medical
authorizations when cannabis is encountered. Some patients
have indicated that police have been less than consistent on
this point, and the Taskforce is likely to hear more about
the issue during its' occasional meetings. For more
information contact SAN representative Robert
Sterner MD. The county does not have distinct
guidelines yet.
City of Sebastopol -- When
backroom pressure from certain elements of the law
enforcement community caused recently elected DA Passalaqua
to feed rumors that he was going to stop relying on the
scientific Sonoma Guidelines and take a more politically
motivated tact of moving toward the SB 420 default
guidelines, the Sebastopol City Council sent him their own
political message by increasing the city guidelines to 4.5
pounds of processed bud and 150 square feet of garden
canopy. This has been looked upon very favorably by patients
who had wanted the federal IND amount of 6 pounds to be the
basis of local policy.
San Francisco -- Safe
Action Now director Chris
Conrad has been meeting with various people at the
office of DA Kamal Harris to formulate a basic policy on
patient guidelines. Deputy DA Russ Guintini is
interested in working out a policy that also creates
guidelines for dispensaries, which is beyond the normal
scope of the SAN project. There is a plan to create an
advisory taskforce of interested parties to review the issue
in the context of Proposition S, the voter initiative that
calls on the City to grow medical marijuana if necessary to
keep it available for patients. One concern is that no new
policies should be allowed to interfere with the present
configuration and relationships among dispensaries,
caregivers and patients or reduce access in any way.
Santa Cruz County -- SAN
representative Andrea
Tischler and Mike
Corral of WAMM have agreed to ask the County
Supervisors to adopt a medical marijuana guidelines
ordinance that allows 3 pounds of bud and 100 square feet of
garden canopy to any qualified patient or their caregiver,
and if the patient has a physician's
letter
of exemption, the letter will cover up to 6 pounds and
200 square feet. Some key officials have agreed to support
the measure when it is introduced, hopefully near the end of
the summer but in time for the fall harvest. Meanwhile the
WAMM garden has been replanted in compliance with a federal
injunction against police raids, based on the Ninth
Circuit's Raich decision.
Sonoma -- New DA
Passalaqua, who campaigned as being better on medical
marijuana than DA Mike Mullins had been, has been hedging on
retaining the current guidelines, much less expanding them.
Through a series of quiet meetings he sent messages that he
was going to cut them back until the Sonoma Alliance for
Medical Marijuana finally confronted him and the news media
got wind of the fight. Although he has not changed the
policy, as of this mailing, DA Passalaqua has managed to
damage relations with the patients and the greater
community, hurt his chances for reelection and encouraged
the City of Sebastopol to adopt its own guidelines that are
closer to the federal IND dosages than the countywide
compromise has been. Doc
Knapp, Kumari, Mary
Pat and Monty Jacobs are among those who have fought
to keep the current guidelines, as well as numerous members
of SAMM who stood behind them and in some cases argued that
SAMM needed to take a more aggressive stance when the DA
began to back down from his campaign promises. The vote to
retain Humboldt DA Gallegos and for the county to
subsequently endorse his guidelines that are nearly
identical to those in Sonoma, may have also helped encourage
the change.
Public and Private
Agencies
California Highway Patrol
-- If police don't have to follow the law, how can we expect
patients to? The CHP has announced that it will not respect
the state law as regards patient possession and
transportation of cannabis, HS 11362.7 (SB 420). In
addition, it has sent officers out to give false and
misleading statements to public forums and governing bodies,
claiming there is no protection under state law. The facts
are quite the contrary -- the California Vehicle Code and
Health and Safety Code all specify that certain activities
are illegal "except as authorized by law." Prop 215
authorized possession and cultivation by qualified patients
and caregivers, then SB 420 authorized possession,
cultivation, sales, intent to sell, processing,
transportation and other activities in certain medical
situations. Furthermore, CHP has refused to return medical
marijuana that is not illegal and therefore not contraband
subject to seizure, which is essentially a form of theft.
The State Constitution does not allow state agencies such as
CHP to ignore state law or give precedence to federal law
over state. We need copies of their official policy and
records of such statements to file a complaint with the
state and Attorney General Lockyer in order to get a
cease-and-desist order against the CHP. Again, if anyone
qualifies for damages, we would like to hear about it so
that we can refer them to an attorney. The Medical Marijuana
Patients Union (MMPU) is also interested in filing such a
lawsuit. Please contact Pebbles
Trippett for more information.
California Narcotics Officers
Association -- The CNOA is a private group that
gives trainings to police on marijuana detection and
enforcement. Unfortunately, this private membership lobbying
organization does not respect state law as regards medical
marijuana. In fact, its website
specifically claims that medical marijuana is a hoax and
their training to police is that it has no medical value and
no safe dosage. This is also the agency that perpetuates the
myths of "one pound per plant" and "three to four joints per
gram." As a result, police often give false testimony in
court and exaggerate the elements of a case to infer intent
to distribute, HS 11359, which is not covered by Proposition
215 (HS 11362.5), although it is repeatedly exempted in SB
420 (HS 11362.765 and HS 11362.775).
Who we are
SAN is a non-partisan organization dedicated to the
proper implementation of uniform guidelines in all of
California's counties in compliance with H&S code
11362.5, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. It was
founded by Chris Conrad with Ralph Sherrow and has activists
in about half the counties of California. We are an
educational and activist organization only, and in no way
supply medicine. Our proposal has been to stop the arrests
as well as the prosecution of patients by creating a safe
harbor of presumed compliance with the law.
We work with all levels of government to achieve this
goal.
SAN guideline
basics
Since the federal government's IND program has
established more than six pounds per year of marijuana as a
safe and effective standard, with some patients receiving
even more, SAN proposes that patients should be allowed to
cultivate and consume that amount as a reasonable level of
compliance. However, since many patients use less than that
amount, we offer a compromise of allowing up to 3 pounds of
processed cannabis bud per patient per year, which typically
requires a canopy area of 100 square feet. Any amount of
plants could be grown to fill in this area without exceeding
the yield, but since a 5 year federal sentences is mandatory
for growing 100 or more plants, we advocate 99 plants as the
voluntary ceiling for patients. In addition, our proposals
allow a physician to write a note that will exempt patients
who need more from being bound by these figures. See our
website http://www.safeaccessnow.net/ for more details.
Donate to Safe Access
Now
Safe Access Now does not charge for the time and
materials we expend to advance the safe harbor proposal for
patients, but that does not mean it does not cost money to
run this campaign. If you can help with a donation of any
size, please send it to our financial coordinator, Chris
Conrad, with a note saying it is intended for Safe Access
Now work. If you plan to donate $100 or more and want a tax
deduction, we can arrange a fiscal sponsor. Cash is great,
but something of a mailing risk.
We do not have a bank account in our name, so please make
checks out to either Chris Conrad or Family
Council on Drug Awareness, and mail to:
Safe Access Now, PO Box 1716, El Cerrito CA 94530.
See
all our past SAN newsletters: Visit our archives online!
http://www.safeaccessnow.net/sannews/sannewsarchive.htm
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