MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING FORWARD

California's ongoing revolt against the federal ban on medical
marijuana is moving forward with a pair of bills from Assembly Democrats.

AB 2743 from Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, now sits in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee. It would instruct local governments and law
enforcement agencies to "not assist in federal raids, arrests,
investigations, or prosecutions" of medical marijuana patients or providers.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, pulled his AB 2279
from a floor vote on Monday due to absence of a pair of key
Democratic supporters. This bill would bar employers from firing
workers for valid use of medical marijuana under state law. Leno said
he would bring the bill back to the floor in the next few days.

Both bills are strongly opposed by several law enforcement agencies.
Lobbyist and attorney John Lovell represents the California Narcotics
Officers, Peace Officers and Police Chiefs Associations. He
characterized these agencies as being in opposition not only to these
particular bills but the entire system of pot clubs and dispensaries
created when voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996. "It's not clear
to what extent the clubs are legal under state law, not just federal
law," Lovell said.

Lovell said both bills are broadly written and ignored the blurred
supply chains between medical marijuana and regular drug dealing. He
said that AB 2743 would prevent local law enforcement from alerting
the feds to particular clubs that were large amounts of negative
secondary effects, such as people reselling pot they bought at clubs
or committing thefts and robberies in order to be able to buy at clubs.

"Anytime you have a location that has dope and cash, you're going to
attract criminal elements," Lovell said. When asked if there was
research showing these effects, he said, "There haven't been studies
done. Who would do the studies?"

Lovell pointed to information gathered at the California Police
Chiefs Association website. The site includes numerous documents from
local law enforcement agencies citing anecdotal evidence of criminal
activities in and around dispensaries. The site also includes links
to a white paper from the Riverside County District Attorney's office
alleging numerous problems with California's medical marijuana law
and claims from an Australian doctor claiming the pot can cause psychosis.

Leno characterized Lovell's comments and those by several Republican
opponents during Monday's floor debate as "hyperbole." "I couldn't
believe the comments that came out of my Republican colleagues mouths
because it was complete misinformation," Leno said.

He noted that his bill cites particular legal code stating that the
law would not apply to workers in many sensitive jobs, such as
driving heavy equipment, nor would it protect people who attempt to
use pot while on the job. Despite claims that his bill would lead to
massive increases in worker compensation costs, Leno said his
opponents could not come up with any examples of medical marijuana
patients causing workplace accidents due to off-hours use.

Leno said that he got to 39 votes on Monday. He pulled the bill due
to the excused absences of a pair of Democrats who had indicated they
will vote for it, Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, and Anthony
Portantino, D-Pasadena. The bill came in response to the Raging Wire
case, in which the California Supreme Court declined to reinstate a
computer technician who had been fired for using medical marijuana on
the written advice of a doctor.

Leno and Saldana are hardly alone among California Democrats in
carrying medical marijuana measures. Senator Carole Migden, San
Francisco, has a pair of live measures seeking to protect medical
marijuana patients. This includes SJR 20, which asks the Bush
administration back off pot club raids. Numerous other Democrats have
carried similar measures in past sessions. The emergence of medical
marijuana as a mainstream issue among California Democrats highlights
a potential crossroads facing opponents of Proposition 215. Leading
Democratic presidential candidate Barrack Obama recently came under
fire for saying her would curtail federal raids against pot clubs in
California and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, support for the practice appears to be growing steadily.
Eight years after 56 percent of California voters approved the
measure, a 2004 Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey
found that 74 percent of Californians were in favor fully
implementing Prop. 215. This included smaller majorities of
Republicans and older voters, two of the groups generally considered
most hostile to medical pot.

"I think it's pretty clear that the voters of California really don't
want the feds coming in a doing this sort of thing, and don't want
our tax dollars being spent to help them," said Bruce Mirken, a
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Mirken pointed to other polls that showed the support of
three-quarters of voters was fairly consistent nationwide. A 2005
national Gallup poll showed 78 percent support for medical marijuana.
Even a 2004 poll in conservative Alabama commission by the Mobile
Register showed 75 percent support.

Lovell dismissed PPIC poll, saying it had mainly to do with how the
question was phrased, and that respondents were not told about how
easy it is for non-patients to get "medical" pot. He went on to
compare medical marijuana to "turn of the century snake oil." He said
that the legal argument in support was flawed, and compared the
"state's rights" argument to Virginia's defense of segregation in the
1950s and John C. Calhoun's attempt to defend South Carolina's tariff
system just before the Civil War.

"This kind of nullification legislation has a long and inglorious
history," Lovell said. He said there will likely be legal challenges
to these bills if they become law. He also cited the threat of
medical malpractice claims coming from patients who suffered "serious
side effects" after being advised by their doctors to use marijuana.

In response, Leno asked: "Just like all the ones that didn't happen
in the last 12 years?"