EDITORIAL UPDATE: ONE OF TWO DRUG-POLICY REFORMS GAINS GROUND

State Sen. John Vasconcellos' bill, SB 420, to establish a state system to
issue (on a voluntary basis) identification cards to medical marijuana
patients passed both houses of the Legislature and is on the governor's
desk. The bill is far from perfect -- its limits on the number of plants a
patient can grow are unrealistically low -- but it would be a signal to the
federal government that California is serious about backing the decision of
voters in 1996 to permit seriously ill people with a doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana therapeutically. On a sadder note, the
Assembly failed to get enough votes (it was 36-36 and 41 votes were needed)
to pass SB 131, which would have changed possession of less than an ounce
of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction.

We hope Gov. (for now) Gray Davis, in his hour of scrambling to look good,
decides to pander to the majority of the public for a change and signs SB 420.