TAHOE HOSTS FORUM ON MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

City Councilman Bill Crawford attended a medicinal marijuana forum in South
Lake Tahoe on Sunday telling people interested in creating a marijuana
cooperative to get organized before they bring the issue to the city.

"I always tell people 'I will help you, but I'm not going to carry your
water,'" he said. "I have no authority over (the council). In fact, it
might be damaging if I were to approach the issue. The fact that you want a
public forum has to come from you folks."

Since voters in 1996 made it legal to use medicinal marijuana with
Proposition 215, guidelines for how the drug can be obtained legally
remain stagnant and confusing. For sick people, growing marijuana is
difficult, which means many turn to the black market for the drug.

Creating a cooperative is an often-mentioned solution because resources and
knowledge can be pooled. The problem is Prop 215 did not make medicinal
marijuana clubs legal.

In May the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8 to 0 to uphold the federal
government's right to forbid the distribution of medical marijuana.
Cooperatives in California have not shut their doors because of the
ruling, but the decision did have a chilling effect on the movement.

Dale Gieringer, coordinator of the California branch of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, attended the Lake Tahoe
Medicinal Marijuana Forum on Sunday. He told the group of 70 that
successful California clubs were founded after communities did
substantial groundwork.

"It's having a core of people who've done a lot of political spadework to
present a credible presence in the community," he said. "Cannabis clubs
are not legal under California law right now. You can make an argument for
collective cultivation. If you open a club tomorrow without having done
all that spadework you will be arrested."

Cannabis clubs aside, change is in the wind in Nevada regarding its new
medical marijuana law. At Sunday's forum, Cecile Crofoot, an employee
of the Nevada Department of Agriculture, spoke about an identification
card program she has been told to implement.

Starting at the end of this month, patients who want to be legal must fill
out an application for the Department of Agriculture. It will include
fingerprinting and a criminal history check. Anyone who has been convicted
of selling marijuana will be denied.

The Department of Motor Vehicles will issued the cards to approved
patients. A patient will be allowed to possess one ounce of marijuana
and have three mature plants and four immature plants. A patient can travel
in a car with marijuana, but it will remain illegal to drive a car under
the influence of the drug, Crofoot said.

Californians are working to create a statewide identification system, too.
Gieringer said Senate Bill 187 would set up guidelines "from Humboldt
County to San Diego that would be recognized by police." He said
support for the bill is strong in the Legislature but he said there is
concern that Gov. Gray Davis will not sign the bill.