'POLICE' ARE STILL SEIZING MEDICAL RECORDS

Last week, we examined the seizure of the records of more than 5,000 medical
marijuana patients as drug police raided the home and office of Dr. Mollie
Fry, a physician, in El Dorado County, Calif.

But it appears the Fry raid may be the tip of the iceberg. In a firsthand
account of a similar raid on the office of Dr. William Eidelman in Santa
Monica on Oct. 10, a medical marijuana patient writes:

"I arrived at Dr. Eidelman's office in Santa Monica at approximately 3 p.m.
The doctor was seeing another 'patient' so I waited in the lobby. A few
minutes later that supposed 'patient' came out into the lobby and stopped.
He smiled really big, looked down at the letter he had just received from
the doctor, and said to me, 'I'm sure glad this guy is around, good luck,'
and then he left," writes the witness, who is on probation and asks that his
name not be used.

"I then went into Dr. Eidelman's office and had a discussion with him. About
10 or 15 minutes later there was a knock at the front door of the office.
When the doctor answered I could hear from down the hall the man introduce
himself as a narcotics detective with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
Department, and he said he had a warrant to search the premises and seize
some property. The doctor called for me to come out of the office and into
the lobby.

"The cops said they were there to seize all his medical records, and the
laptop computer the records were stored on, and to search for controlled
substances. Dr. Eidelman argued with them for a few minutes about the lack
of probable cause for the search and the illegality of seizing all his
confidential patient records.

"All of the officers appeared to be with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
department. There were approximately a dozen officers, all fully armed,
outfitted, geared up, weapons showing/being carried, some wearing helmets
and goggles, etc. I did not see any DEA or feds.

"The man who appeared to be the lead detective was the same man who had
posed as a 'patient' and seen the doctor right before I did.

"An officer asked me for ID and I gave it to him. He then walked out into
the hall and handed it to another cop and told him to `run this guy, and try
and find something so we can take him in; I'm sure you'll find something.'

"A few minutes later they sent me out into the hallway to be `interviewed'
by the cop who ran my ID. I was then face-to-face with the same guy who had
been posing as a patient when I arrived. His attitude, questions and
treatment of me was despicable. He asked why I was there and I told him I
was meeting with my doctor. He then tried to force me to give my medical
history and tell him what I had been discussing with the doctor.

"He kept asking what my medical conditions were and what treatment I was
seeking from the doctor. I told them it was none of their business. He then
told me I had better cooperate and stop lying to him `or else you'll be in a
lot more trouble.' He kept saying, `You're here to buy a pot note, aren't
you?' I told him I was not there to `buy a pot note.' That went back and
forth for a while.

"After more of their harassment I said I had to be somewhere and asked how
much longer I had to stay. The detective gave me back my belongings and
said, `If you really have a medical condition, I recommend you go see a real
doctor who will treat you with real medicine, and stop running around trying
to get "a fix." '.

"The detective gave me his card and then I left. The detective's info on his
business card is: Michael Wirz, Sheriff's Detective Narcotics Division, 655
East Third St., San Bernardino, CA 92415.

"They did not arrest Dr. Eidelman, but are investigating him for supposed
felonies."

A preliminary hearing on the seizure of Dr. Eidelman's computer records has
been scheduled for San Bernardino County Superior Court.

"Basically they don't like the law and they don't believe in the legitimacy
of medical marijuana," Dr. Eidelman told me last Friday. "In spite of the
fact the law was passed by the people of the state of California they would
like to ignore the law and contravene it."

I pointed out to Dr. Eidelman that the ideal test case would be some
white-haired general practitioner recommending marijuana for a life-long
patient who now has to deal with glaucoma, that police on the other hand
will doubtless try to characterize him as some kind of "marijuana mill,"
with marijuana recommendations constituting the bulk of his practice.

"Well, this is a major part of my practice these days, because the
white-haired old GP is scared to write the letters. The patients come to me
and say, `My doctor sent me to you because he says I need this but you're
the only one who's willing to write the recommendations,' so by the laws of
supply and demand I've become the specialist in medical marijuana in
Southern California.

We were all taught in our high-school Civics classes that if you want to
change the law, all you have to do is get a majority of voters to agree with
you -- which is exactly what backers of California's humane Proposition 215
did. But these California prosecutors and so-called "police" now reveal they
don't believe in -- or honor -- that system at all.

In the courtroom where Chief Magistrate Gregory Hollows set the Oct. 22
hearing in the case of Dr. Mollie Fry, wheelchair-bound Dee Blanc of
Placerville told The AP she had dropped to 81 lbs. before she began using
marijuana to gain weight.

''I'm a chronic pain patient,'' she said.

Kimberly Craft of Placerville said, ''We have a state law that protects us.
I'm afraid they're going to put us on a list and decide who's next."