BACA GOES GREEN

Sheriff Pushes Medical Marijuana
"It Makes A Lot Of Sense," Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca Says
Of The Medical-Marijuana Bill Currently In The State
Legislature.

Perhaps the most extraordinary element of SB 848 is that it was
created by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's Medical Marijuana
Task Force, with direct input from representatives of California's
major law-enforcement agencies. The Weekly was curious to hear what
the sheriff had to say about the Vasconcellos bill and the contentious
issue of therapeutic cannabis. Baca didn't mince words. "This is a
matter of human decency," the freshman sheriff said in a phone
interview last week. "Society doesn't benefit by perpetuating an
attitude where people who are ill, possibly terminally ill, are left
to their own resources to deal with their problems. Unless you can
walk in an HIV-positive person's shoes, you do not have the right to
deny that person the ability to find some level of hope."

Baca's main concern is that cannabis not be used recklessly:
"Obviously, marijuana is a psychotropic drug and therefore affects
your ability to drive, so if you're going to take your medicinal
marijuana, you'd better not drive. That's the only area I would make
sure of in this kind of legislation, that the person use marijuana in
a manner that is safe to the rest of society."

Baca has developed a strong working relationship with the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center and its director, Scott Imler, dating back to
a "peace conference" at the Crescent Heights United Methodist Church
in West Hollywood, held immediately after the 1996 passage of
Proposition 215. The LACRC is a 650-member patient self-help group
providing information and legal assistance, and maintaining a
cooperative cannabis-cultivation project. Eighty percent of the
membership has HIV. According to Baca, L.A. County Sheriff's deputies
honor the existing registry cards issued by the LACRC as proof of
legitimate medical use.

"The issues of law, [if] they conflict with appropriate humanism, then
we have to make some changes. That's why I stand up in support of what
Scott has been doing," Baca said. "And he's done an excellent job."
The sheriff explained how the relationship with the L.A. cannabis
center works: "Our policy is, one, we have open communication; two, we
recognize the importance of the work they're doing; three, we respect
the right of people to privately respond to their medical needs; four,
[that] there is no public danger associated with the center . . .
People who are going to the center are getting their HIV needs met,
and to me it's done on a level that's respectful to the general
society's concerns, and there's no need for reactionary, alarmist
behavior to occur on the part of people who don't understand this
problem [or] those who are trying to solve it.

"All of the alarmists who want to say that we're just turning drugs
loose, creating a bigger problem for ourselves, are wrong. The ability
to help people who need help is important. And quite frankly, when you
look at marijuana, it has somewhat of a controversial reputation, but
so did every other psychotropic drug that's [now] used medically,
before it was certified federally by the FDA."

As Baca warmed to his subject, he sounded more like a
medical-marijuana advocate than the county's top lawman. "Let's not
mistake the fact that drugs are chemicals that have been invented by
man. Ironically, marijuana is a chemical as well - not necessarily
invented by man," he chuckled. "But the important thing is that those
who have HIV-positive experiences understand the effect that marijuana
has on them. Science often does not catch up to common sense, and I'm
going to let [HIV-positive people who use medical marijuana] tell me
that they feel better. It relieves them of a significant amount of
their pain, and that's good enough for me."

Certainly, for a cop, Baca takes progressive political stands. The
afternoon he was interviewed, Baca attended the signing of the
so-called "junk gun" bill by Governor Davis the following day in
Mission Hills. And Baca is on record as supporting needle exchange to
inhibit the spread of HIV.

Baca said he'd lean on Davis to sign SB 848. The governor is "very
open about doing the right thing," the sheriff said. "He's a resident
of West Hollywood. I'll see him tomorrow, and I'll mention it to him
then. If there are some things that the bill needs to tighten up to
ensure public safety, then I can understand the governor's reluctance.
On the other hand, as the sheriff of this county, I've not had any
federal agencies come in and pre-empt the Sheriff's Department's
policing efforts when it comes to the [cannabis] center."