Mendocino doctors back pot measure

Article published - Apr 15, 2008

Mendocino doctors back pot measure

By MIKE GENIELLA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

UKIAH — Mendocino County's medical community Tuesday jumped into the fray
over a ballot bid to snuff out large-scale pot cultivation in the county,
calling current medical marijuana guidelines "fraudulent."

A majority of doctors in the Ukiah Valley, the hub of the county's medical
care, publicly endorsed Measure B, which would if passed in the June primary
sharply restrict the amount of pot individuals may grow and use.

Dr. Robert Werra said 40 doctors have joined the medical staff at Ukiah
Valley Medical Center in support of the citizen-led initiative.

Werra said the county's medical community is fed up with surging pot
production under the guise of medical marijuana use.

"The medical community is very unhappy with the fraudulent misuse of the
compassionate medical marijuana program as a front for rampant commercial
growing," Werra said in a statement.

Under Proposition 215, passed statewide in 1996, and subsequent state law,
an individual is protected from state prosecution if they possess a
physician's recommendation and if the amount in their possession is within
local guidelines.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080415/NEWS/4763839/1033/NEWS&tc=yahoo