MEDICAL POT NEEDS SUPPLY PLAN IN WAKE OF FEDERAL DECISIONS

State DAs plan summit on legal pot

Even as federal authorities swooped down on Dennis Peron's remote rural pot
farm last week, politicians and district attorneys from San Francisco to
Los Angeles were busily planning a summit to figure out how to legally
distribute medical marijuana.

Local officials have faced the dilemma of carrying out Proposition 215, the
voter-approved measure legalizing medical pot, in the wake of crushing
federal court decisions. The latest ordered the closure of the Cannabis
Healing Center and three other Northern California clubs for violating
federal drug laws.

Good timing

Organizers of the so-called pot summit have been planning the event for
several months and say it was fortuitous that their announcement coincided
with the latest federal court ruling.

It also coincided with the raid on the crops of Peron, the controversial
former operator of San Francisco's original Cannabis Buyers' Club and now a
GOP gubernatorial candidate who is campaigning for the availability of
medicinal marijuana.

State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, District Attorney Terence
Hallinan and other officials announced plans for a statewide "Medical
Marijuana Distribution Summit" to be held May 26 at the state Capitol.

Diverse representation

The event, sponsored by the state Senate committee on public safety, which
is chaired by Vasconcellos, would bring together all the stakeholders in
the medical marijuana debate: the sick and dying, their physicians and
health care providers, political representatives, local law enforcement and
district attorneys around the state.

The goal is to find an alternative way to distribute medical marijuana
legally under federal law. So far, a number of approaches have been
discussed, ranging from legislative action to court battles.

Attorneys for the cannabis clubs have said they relish a court battle to
resolve the conflict between state and federal laws. Some recommend new
legislation to facilitate the safe and affordable distribution of medicinal
pot. Others say the ultimate solution is for the federal government to
reschedule marijuana so that it can be prescribed like morphine and other
legal drugs.

Legislature backs medical use

The Legislature is on record supporting the rescheduling of marijuana to a
prescription drug. In 1994, it sent a resolution to Congress and the
president, asking them to make the changes, but it was refused.

Organizers say that continued efforts to push for changes in federal drug
laws, and other states passing similar medicinal marijuana measures, will
mount pressure on the federal government to deal with the issue.

The summit, with its blend of traditional legislative hearings and
discussions between participants and members of the committee, is designed
to arrive at consensus on how to make Prop. 215 work and how to make it
legal under federal drug laws.

)1998 San Francisco Examiner

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)