Riverside Dispensaries: AG takes issue with DA

Teresa Schilling, a spokeswoman for state
Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said California
laws make clear that medicinal marijuana is to be
legal. Lockyer, who has told local governments to
follow state rules, is defending the laws in
court.
"SB420 says local government has to implement
ways for patients to get access to their
medicine. Counties have a choice in how they do
it. The law allows for dispensaries to be an
option," Schilling said.

<http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_pot24.12c81f7.html>http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_pot24.12c81f7.html
Selling medical marijuana

Riverside County wrestles with regulation
12:44 PM PDT on Monday, September 25, 2006

By KIMBERLY TRONE
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Pot Dispensary
A not-for-profit business allowed to sell medical
marijuana to patients who have a
government-issued card permitting them to use the
drug.
Patients who use marijuana on the advice of a
physician might soon be able to buy the federally
banned drug at specialty stores in Riverside
County.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is scheduled
to debate land-use policies for medical-marijuana
dispensaries in unincorporated areas, putting it
in line to be the eighth county in California to
regulate the distribution of pot to patients.
The meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. at the
Riverside County Administrative Center, 4080
Lemon St., Riverside.
While Riverside County lags behind some Northern
California cities in implementing state marijuana
laws, activists say the county is helping pave
the way for medicinal users in Southern
California.
"Riverside County is definitely a leader, and
one of the reasons it is doing so well is because
we have an organized group of people pushing for
it," said Lanny Swerdlow, who heads the Marijuana
Anti-Prohibition Project in Palm Springs.
In 2003, California lawmakers ordered counties
to begin issuing voluntary ID cards to help
patients and caregivers avoid arrest and
prosecution by state agencies. Riverside County
became the first in Southern California to comply.
The law, Senate Bill 420, was a bipartisan
effort to enact the will of the voters and to
create a workable distribution system, said
former state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa
Clara, who authored the bill.
"When the people say, 'Do it,' you do it. If you
don't believe that, then you get out of the way,"
Vasconcellos said.
Some Southern California leaders see it differently.
DA Critical of Dispensaries
Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask
recently issued a 10-page report calling
dispensaries illegal and a magnet for crime. He
is urging the Board of Supervisors to ban them.
Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
medical marijuana users can be prosecuted under
federal drug laws even though voters in 11 states
have approved its medical use.
But Teresa Schilling, a spokeswoman for state
Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said California
laws make clear that medicinal marijuana is to be
legal. Lockyer, who has told local governments to
follow state rules, is defending the laws in
court.
"SB420 says local government has to implement
ways for patients to get access to their
medicine. Counties have a choice in how they do
it. The law allows for dispensaries to be an
option," Schilling said.

Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson said the
conflict is an issue of state rights. If Lockyer
had determined dispensaries are illegal, "the
ballgame would be over," he said.
"The people of California said they think
compassionate use ought to be allowed," Wilson
said.
Supervisors in San Bernardino and San Diego
counties have filed a suit against the state,
contending it is trying to force counties to set
up a program the federal government says is
illegal. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16.
"At a time when drug cartels are flooding our
streets with marijuana, and gang warfare is
rampant, it's impossible for the Board of
Supervisors to give its blessing to the use of a
drug that is forbidden by federal law," San Diego
County Supervisor Bill Horn said in a statement
earlier this year.
In Palm Springs, where two dispensaries have
opened recently, officials are waiting on
Riverside County supervisors' decision before
recommending any ordinance to the council.
'Reasonable Provisions'
"We are trying to make reasonable provisions for
patients, and fashion something that works for
Palm Springs and Palm Springs residents," city
attorney Douglas Holland said.
The proposal heading to Riverside County
supervisors would allow as many as six patients
to collectively grow their own marijuana at one
location. Larger cooperatives would require a
special county permit and public hearings.
Only single patients in Palm Springs would be
permitted to cultivate their own plants under the
city's draft rules. Holland said residents'
concerns mostly are centered on the possibility
that large marijuana plots could spring up in
neighborhoods.
Both desert cities have placed moratoriums on
further dispensaries until they adopt their own
rules.
Corona leaders have been trying unsuccessfully
in court to close a dispensary there. Temecula
and Lake Elsinore have banned them.
Temecula Mayor Ron Roberts said until the
conflict is resolved between state and federal
law, the council had to ban dispensaries.
Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs of
the marijuana advocacy organization, Drug Policy
Alliance, said authorities lose control when they
prohibit dispensaries.
"That's putting your head in the sand and
saying, 'We are going to let the black market
take care of this,' " he said.
Dispensaries are portrayed in a negative light
because of the controversy over marijuana, said
Amanda Reiman, a marijuana patient and researcher
at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley.
Reiman said that many dispensaries and cannabis
clubs offer substance-abuse counseling, illness
support groups, coping strategies, social events
and classes.
"Before communities are quick to say, 'No,' it
would behoove them to look at the benefits,"
Reiman said.
Barbara Taylor, a Coachella Valley resident,
said allowing dispensaries sends a message to
teens that marijuana use is normal and legitimate.
"I see the dispensaries as nothing more than the
illegal distribution of marijuana," Taylor said.
If Riverside County supervisors agree to
regulate dispensaries, law enforcement officials
say they will push to see that the rules require
patients to have a state-mandated identification
card issued by Riverside County.
Undersheriff Neil Lingle said the card is a tool
for law enforcement to verify who is complying
with the Compassion Use Act and has a valid
physician's recommendation.
Identification Card Required
Lynnette Shaw, who operates a dispensary in the
city of Fairfax in Marin County, said patients
are required to have either the state card or a
card from the Oakland public health department.
"The ID has eliminated problems with the
police," Shaw said. Her dispensary is nine years
old and one of the longest running in the state.
Getting the physician's recommendation in order
to obtain the ID card is not as easy as people
think, said AIDS patient Becky Brown.
Brown, 46, of Quail Valley, awakened four years
ago after 24 days on life support weighing just
80 pounds. She is 5-foot-4.
Earlier this year, Brown said her physician in
Riverside County suggested she try marijuana.
Although he declined to write her a
recommendation, Brown's physician told her there
were doctors who would.
She found a West Hollywood doctor, who required
her to bring her medical records, fill out a
200-question form, and participate in a lengthy
interview before he signed a letter saying she
qualified for the drug.
"I don't have a criminal record. I am not a
junkie and I am not a thief," said Brown, who had
been taking 20 pills -- some which were simply to
relieve the side effects caused by drugs to treat
her disease.
Brown said marijuana helps her sense of well
being, eases nausea and stimulates her appetite.
At a steady weight of 114 pounds, Brown said
marijuana has allowed her to abandon more than
half the pills she was taking.
"I am a testament to its usage," Brown said. "I
am trying to live with this disease, not die from
it."
Reach Kimberly Trone at 951-368-9456 or ktrone [at] PE.com
Related
Inland man wages painful fight
Video:Garry Silva describes a marijuana raid at his residence
Ten years ago California voters gave sick
patients the right to use marijuana with a
doctor's permission. Federal law prohibits its
cultivation, possession or sale.

Mark Zaleski / The Press-Enterprise
AIDS patient Becky Brown, 46, of Quail Valley,
found that marijuana allowed her to quit using
many of the medications she was taking to deal
with side effects of other drugs. She calls
herself a "testament" to medicinal use of
marijuana.

Mark Zaleski / The Press-Enterprise
Becky Brown, 46, says getting the physician's
recommendation in order to obtain a
state-authorized identification card to buy
marijuana for medical use is not as easy as
people think.
Palm Desert officials also are trying to hammer
out regulations for dispensaries.

>From: "LS"
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>
>
>I have printed a link below to the excellent
>article by Kimberly Trone of the Press
>Enterprise concerning the dispensary/coop
>ordinance coming up for a vote this Tuesday,
>Sept. 26 at 1:30 p.m. by the Riverside County
>Board of Supervisors.
>
>
>
>It explains all the legal machinations that have
>occurred during the yearlong drafting and yet
>the story never lost its connection to the
>people who will be most affected by this law. I
>encouraged you to take a few minutes to read
>this article ñ you will not be disappointed.
>
>
>
><http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_pot24.12c81f7.html>http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_pot24.12c81f7.html
>
>
>
>You will also not be disappointed if you come to
>the Board meeting tomorrow where they will be
>voting on the subject of the article. It all
>comes together then and you should be there to
>witness it and, if you like, make a statement to
>the Board about the need for patients to have
>safe, affordable and convenient access to their
>medicine.
>
>
>
>As I discussed the email you received Sunday,
>there is movement afoot by law enforcement to
>have the Board just outright ban dispensaries
>and coops. Your presence will let the Board
>members know that their decision will affect the
>health and welfare of the people of Riverside
>County.
>
>
>
>The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the first
>floor Council Chambers at the Riverside County
>Administration Building at 4080 Lemon Street in
>beautiful downtown Riverside. If you park in the
>parking structure, you can get your ticket
>validated at the 5th floor offices of the Board
>of Supervisors.
>
>
>
>And if you have not sent an email and/or made a
>phone call, thereís still time and hereís the
>information again.
>
>
>
><mailto:district1 [at] rcbos.org>district1 [at] rcbos.org;
><mailto:district2 [at] rcbos.org>district2 [at] rcbos.org;
><mailto:district3 [at] rcbos.org>district3 [at] rcbos.org;
><mailto:district4 [at] rcbos.org>district4 [at] rcbos.org;
><mailto:district5 [at] rcbos.org>district5 [at] rcbos.org;
>
>
>
>District 1 Supervisor Bob Buster ñ 951-471-4270
>
>District 2 Supervisor John Tavaglione ñ 951-955-1020
>
>District 3 Supervisor Jeff Stone - 1-866-383-2203 or 951-955-1030
>
>District 4 Supervisor Roy Wilson ñ 760-863-8211
>
>District 5 Supervisor Marion Ashley ñ 909-955-1050
>
>
>
>If you send an email and/or make a phone call,
>please email me and let me know. If you have
>questions about the meeting this Tuesday, send
>me an email or give me a call at 760-799-2055.
>
>
>(LS)
>

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