SMOKE SIGNALS

(West Hollywood)-- When Neal McCarty, an HIV patient who uses medical
marijuana, was busted last year for growing three marijuana plants in
his backyard, he spent a night in jail he'll never forget.

"I got really sick," McCarty said. "It was hard on me. I had the dry
heaves and flu-like symptoms, only worse." McCarty, a member of the
Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in the city, says he smokes
marijuana mainly to have an appetite. "I went from 170 pounds to 125
in four months," he said. "Whenever I try to eat, it's like eating a
piece of paper. But when I smoke, I can eat ice cream and all kinds of
food."

Last year's drug charges were dropped, but McCarty said he's still
afraid to grow his own marijuana for fear of being arrested.

There have been at least 21 legal medical marijuana patients in Los
Angeles who have been cited for possessing or cultivating marijuana,
despite the passage of Proposition 215 in November 1996.

Advocates say the predicament for McCarty and the others cited could
have been avoided by a better understanding of state law by police and
other officials.

Proposition 215 gives seriously ill patients the right to use
marijuana for medicinal purposes, with consent from their doctors,
said Scott Imler, the cannabis resource center's executive director.

Imler hopes a proposed law will pass that would tackle the
proposition's vague language, standardize enforcement, clarify any
doubts law enforcement officials may have and define the legally
accepted use of medical marijuana throughout the state.

Known as state Senate Bill 848, the proposal is based on
recommendations from a 30-member task force of attorneys, police
officers, physicians and medical marijuana experts throughout California.

The bill has passed the Senate and is being considered by the
Assembly's Appropriations Committee. It still faces a vote by the full
Assembly and must be signed by Gov. Gray Davis before it would become
law.

Imler, a task force member, explained that the bill does not change
any rights conveyed by Proposition 215; it merely clarifies its language.

"Patients have been arrested and prosecuted and continue to be,
because no two counties in California can implement Proposition 215 in
the same way,' Imler said.

Under the proposed law, patients would carry state-issued ID cards
that would make them immune from arrest for possession,
transportation, delivery or cultivation of medicinal marijuana.

The revamped regulations would also require state officials to define
the amounts of marijuana a patient can legally possess. And centers
that distribute marijuana would be monitored in terms of product
quality and purity, he explained.

One supportive lawmaker thinks SB 848 is a good idea.

"This bill represents a remarkable compromise, [reached] after one of
the most elegant collaborative processes I've enjoyed in my 33 years
in the Legislature," state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose) said.

"The bill meets Proposition 215's key objective -- allowing access to
medicinal marijuana for persons with legitimate need. And it carefully
balances concerns of patients, physicians and law enforcement."

Those officials also hope the bill will make enforcement
easier.

"The position of the California Peace Officers Assn. is one of
nonopposition," said San Luis Obispo Police Chief Jim Gardiner,
president of the association that has 4,000 members statewide.

"The street officers need a way to identify a person who is legally
using marijuana for medicinal purposes. The system proposed will do
that."

At the West Hollywood center, the more than 660 members already have a
registry system in place, serving as a model for the Legislature's
bill.

Members must also present a center-issued photo identification card to
enter the facility.

The center, which is open three days a week, allows patients to
purchase a maximum of 27 grams of marijuana per week. The marijuana is
grown on the premises.

"The LAPD honors these cards, because we've built up a respectable
reputation with them," Imler said. "It is the official policy of the
county Sheriff's Department to honor these registry cards. And it
really works."

Center member Sheral Thomas -- who has epilepsy and neuropathy, a
numbing and tingling sensation in her neck -- has been stopped by the
police three times for possession of marijuana. On all occasions,
officers let her go after seeing the center's photo ID card she carries.

"If medical marijuana patients had an identification card like we do,
all over the state, then it will make it more legitimate for the
people being harassed," Thomas said. "If they don't fix the problem,
then there will be more drug dealers on the street."

HIV patient Kent Grant added that he has to smoke pure marijuana
because it cuts down on the abundance of medication he must take every
day.

"Fatigue is one of the biggest problems with this disease. It comes
from all the pills we have to take. Marijuana helps to round out my
energy," Grant said.

It also eases the side effects of such HIV medications as
protease.

"The pills can cause neuropathy and narcolepsy and the protease can
cause diabetes," he added. "If the disease doesn't get you, the cure
will. That's why it's so important that patients have access [to
medical marijuana]."