NEW CHAVEZ CASE DELAY

The case against Marvin Chavez on charges of selling marijuana has been
delayed again, this time until October 19.

Mr Chavez is founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support
Group, which tries to provide education and cannabis to patients who have a
doctor's recommendation to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel expressed displeasure
Monday when he granted the continuance. But Mr. Chavez's new defense
attorney, James Silva, explained that he had not received hundreds of pages
of documents from the previous attorneys until a few days before.

One of the first issues to be raised will be a defense request for Judge
Fasel to revisit his ruling that Proposition 215 (now Section 11362.5 of the
California Health and Safety Code) could not be used as part of the defense.
That initiative provides a defense for patients with recommendations from
physicians against some marijuana-related charges. Judge Fasel had requested
more evidence from Mr. Chavez's previous attorneys that Mr. Chavez qualified
as a "primary caregiver" under the law. Mr. Silva says he is ready to
furnish it.

Part of the reason for the confusion is that neither the state government
nor any local government in Orange County has developed written guidelines
for the orderly implementation of Prop. 215, leaving prosecutors and those
trying to supply marijuana to patients unable to grow it themselves to
contest the issue in court.

In a previous hearing in this case Judge Fasel expressed reluctance to have
a court perform the essentially legislative function of developing
guidelines. But in our system it is not inappropriate for juries, drawn from
the people, the decide how a law they voted for should be implemented or
applied to a particular situation.

The Chavez case could be useful in the process of developing guidelines -
even if a conviction shows how not to do it properly - but only if all the
relevant issues are discussed.

Checked-by: Don Beck