STATE BOARD IS INVESTIGATING DOCTORS WHO OK MEDICAL POT

It was a new one for Chaparral High School administrators.

Two students had shown up on the El Cajon campus high on marijuana.
When questioned, they produced a medical marijuana recommendation
from a Mission Valley clinic called Medimar, claiming their drug use
was permitted.

The students were suspended and the Grossmont Union High School
District sent a letter to parents reminding them that marijuana is
prohibited on any school campus, doctor's note or no.

The January incident drew national attention after media outlets such
as Fox News erroneously reported that Grossmont Union officials were
supplying marijuana to students who had a doctor's OK.

The incident also got the attention of Damon Mosler, chief of the
narcotics division of the San Diego County District Attorney's
Office. Mosler has long been frustrated that he is powerless to
prosecute doctors who might be signing off on marijuana use for
anyone willing to pay.

The 1996 passage of state Proposition 215, allowing the use of
medical marijuana, and a subsequent federal court ruling prohibits
prosecution of a doctor for recommending medical marijuana.

"I have yet to find a criminal outlet for me to prosecute them,"
Mosler said. "If I could, I would."

In the Chaparral case, guidelines set by the Medical Board of
California appear to have been followed and Mosler is not targeting
Medimar or its doctors. But in a June 2006 letter to the medical
board, Mosler said he was troubled by the practices of four other
doctors: Joanne Benzor, Alfonso Jimenez, Robert Sterner and Mary
Winscott. They failed to conduct exams before recommending marijuana,
he said, or they recommended excessive amounts of the drug.

The medical board is investigating Jimenez, Sterner and Winscott. The
board had already accused Benzor of gross negligence in handling
medical marijuana patients and her case is pending.

Mosler wrote his letter after the District Attorney's Office and the
San Diego Police Department conducted an undercover sting.

Sterner had his dog in the room while meeting with one officer posing
as a patient, Mosler said. Jimenez gave an officer an ashtray with
his logo along with a lighter, he said.

Winscott and Benzor could not be reached for comment. Jean
Talleyrand, owner of the clinic where they worked, defended them but
said neither works for him anymore.

Sterner declined an interview, but said in an e-mail that he has been
unfairly subjected to repeated state and federal investigations that
he described as a "political pogrom."

Jimenez vehemently denied Mosler's allegations and said District
Attorney Bonnie Dumanis is wasting taxpayer resources by pursuing
medical marijuana doctors and patients.

"It's a witch hunt," he said. "They're going to demonize it as much
as they can."

Physicians cannot prescribe marijuana, but they can recommend the
drug for patients suffering from ailments ranging from AIDS to
migraine headaches. The state medical board does not investigate
physicians who recommend marijuana as long as they examine the
patient, develop a treatment plan, periodically consult with the
patient, and keep proper records.

A parent must provide consent if marijuana is recommended for a
minor. In the Chaparral case, one student was 18 and did not need
parental consent and the other had visited the clinic with his
mother, Mosler said.

He said he didn't know if either student had a medical condition that
warranted the recommendation.

Medimar physician Kenneth Johnson said he could not discuss his
patients. He said he treats only minors who have a parent with them.

Mosler said Benzor, who is based in Riverside County's Morena Valley,
also practiced at Medicann, a medical marijuana clinic in Clairemont.
He said she recommended marijuana in quantities far above the amount
needed, in one case suggesting more than 100 pounds for one patient.

In a filing against Benzor in May, the medical board said she
admitted she did not examine patients before recommending marijuana,
and that she pre-signed medical marijuana certificates issued by a
physician's assistant working for Benzor at a Big Bear clinic.

Mosler said a December 2005 federal raid of marijuana dispensaries
showed that most patients who got medical marijuana recommendations
were under 30, and many got them from Sterner or Jimenez. He said
only a handful of doctors in the county make their living handing out
the recommendations.

Most patients said they suffered from anxiety, insomnia or
depression. Very few received marijuana for cancer, glaucoma or AIDS,
Mosler told the medical board.

Mosler said patients got recommendations to use marijuana longer if
they paid more. Sterner told a patient he could get a six-month
recommendation for marijuana for $125, or a one-year recommendation
for $200, Mosler said.

"If I have a chronic illness, I think I should see my doctor more
often than every six months," Mosler said.

The undercover officer who visited Jimenez said the doctor did not
conduct an exam and met with him in a room with no medical equipment.
He said Jimenez told him he could get his diagnosis of back and neck
pain validated by an acupuncturist whom Jimenez recommended.

Jimenez said he had no record of the agent coming to his office. He
said he examines patients before making a recommendation, and all
patients must sign a form acknowledging that they will see another
doctor if they want to continue using marijuana.

Jimenez said he has seen the benefits that medical marijuana brings
to his patients, and vowed to continue despite the obstacles.

"It is something we're very passionate about," he said. "We're not
going to go away."