DISPENSARY DESERVES A TIMELY DECISION

Does Tustin Raid Constitute Harassment Of Medical Marijuana Patients?

In the case of Legal Ease, a medical marijuana dispensary raided last
week by Tustin police, either charges should be filed quickly or the
property of the proprietors should be returned immediately.

Police raided Legal Ease with a search warrant based on the fact that
undercover police officers had been able to purchase marijuana using
phony doctors' notes. As we have seen in two other recent California
cases, weeks can pass after a raid and no charges filed, leaving the
dispensary and patients in limbo. The Tustin police and Orange County
District Attorney's office should act expeditiously.

Tustin Lt. Jim Peery told us, "This was nothing more than drug
dealers using a storefront as opposed to selling out of the back of
the van." The police say several undercover police officers went into
the dispensary and successfully bought marijuana each time, even
though their doctor's notes were fictitious. Lt. Peery told us he
wasn't sure what phony "doctor's office" number was available to call
on the undercover officers' notes, but he assumed it was somebody at
the police department.

The police said that they saw apparently healthy people obtaining
marijuana at Legal Ease. We wonder where these investigators got
their medical training, and how they are able to diagnose people
simply by looking at them.

Philip Denney, a Lake Forest physician who writes recommendations for
the medical use of marijuana, as authorized by state law, told us
that while he can't speak for how Legal Ease handled patients from
other doctors, their staff members did call regularly to verify his
referrals. However, "even an imperfect dispensary," he said, "is
better than patients buying from a dealer with a bag of cocaine in
his other pocket." He fears that actions such as the raid on Legal
Ease will force many patients to rely on the black market, when
California voters and the state Legislature have voted to create a
legal market for patients who use marijuana under medical supervision.

That's why it's important to watch carefully whether charges are
filed in the Legal Ease case.

Proposition 215, which California voters approved in 1996, did not
eliminate state laws against using or selling marijuana for
nonmedical purposes.

Thus, if Legal Ease was simply selling to people who did not have
valid physician recommendations it may be justifiably subject to
legal penalties.

If no charges are filed, however, the case then looks not just like
simple harassment but perhaps even an effort to nullify the medical
marijuana law California voters approved. Notably, no charges yet
have been filed after a Dec. 20 raid in San Francisco and a Dec. 12
raid in San Diego.

Lt. Peery told us the department was still writing up the case and
would present it to the Orange County District Attorney's Office with
recommended charges to file within two weeks. The DA's office told us
they would act on it expeditiously but carefully as soon as they get it.

This situation was almost inevitable. Neither Orange County
government nor any city in Orange County has developed guidelines for
medical marijuana dispensaries or co-ops in the nine years since the
Compassionate Use Act was passed. Neither those who might want to
operate such a facility nor the police have a clear idea what would
constitute a legitimate dispensary.

County supervisors should direct the county health agency to get busy
setting up a voluntary identification card system for medical
marijuana patients, as directed by state law, and convene a panel, as
the city of San Diego did years ago, to explore the medical and legal
issues and develop guidelines.

Patients, doctors and the police deserve to have a better idea than
they do now about what the law permits and doesn't permit.