CALIF. OFFICIALS SET MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUMMIT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Faced with a federal drive to close down
California's medical marijuana clubs, state officials Monday announced a
summit next week to discuss new ways to provide the drug to sick people.

The ``Medical Marijuana Distribution Summit'' in Sacramento May 26 will
bring together state law enforcement officials, health agencies and medical
marijuana proponents to examine new distribution options -- including
whether local governments themselves should step in as marijuana suppliers.

``This summit is to see whether we can find some way to assure safe access
to medical marijuana for sick Californians,'' said state Sen. John
Vasconcellos, chairman of the state Senate Committee on Public Safety and
organizer of the meeting.

The summit marks the first large-scale effort to examine how California can
legally implement Prop. 215, the 1996 state law which legalized the use of
marijuana if prescribed by a doctor to treat symptoms of AIDS, cancer and
other serious diseases.

Since Prop. 215 was passed, California's 20-odd medical marijuana clubs
have faced challenges in both state and federal courts charging them with
violating federal anti-drug laws and peddling marijuana to ``unapproved''
users.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he would issue an order
to close six clubs in northern California -- although he hinted that other
methods of distributing the drug might still be legally viable.

Local California officials have lined up behind the clubs, saying they
fulfill the mandate of the 1996 law and provide a safe way for sick people
to obtain the drug.

``I very much resent the fact that the state authorities, and the federal
authorities, are sticking their nose in San Francisco and trying to make it
as difficult as possible for us to fulfill the mandate of Prop. 215,'' San
Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan said Monday.

San Francisco officials have floated the idea that if the clubs close, the
city could step in as a distributor of medical marijuana to sick people.

George Kennedy, district attorney for Santa Clara county and president of
the California District Attorneys Association, said the summit next week
would be aimed at ironing out ``technical'' problems that have blocked
implementation of the state law.

``It is very clear to me that, under Prop. 215, the majority of the people
here in California want to have seriously ill people have access to medical
marijuana,'' Kennedy said in Monday's teleconference.

``Unless we come up with sort of uniform standards statewide...almost every
enforcement action risks being politicized,'' said Scott Imler, director of
the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers Club.

``It seems clear that the government is perhaps prepared to allow local
government agencies to take this by the horns.''

Vasconcellos said the summit would include a presentation by the office of
state District Attorney Dan Lungren, a strong opponent of medical
marijuana, as well as opportunity for public comment.

Federal officials, however, turned down an invitation to attend, he said.

Dave Fratello of the Americans for Medical Rights, a sponsor of Prop. 215,
said the summit could result in a new model for legal marijuana
distribution which would help other states weighing bills to legalize
medical use of the drug.

``We will create a direct role for the health department to essentially
license (medical marijuana providers), and create permits and ID cards,''
Fratello said. ``This could be something of a national model.''

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski