CA. Police Station May Distribute Marijuana

By Adrian Croft

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 15 (Reuter) A California police station could be used
to distribute marijuana to the seriously ill, supporters of the new
proposal said on Friday.

Medical marijuana advocates also want to grow pot on vacant land behind the
Fort Bragg police station right under the noses of officers who enforce
laws against the drug.

"The proposal is to open a medical marijuana dispensary at the Fort Bragg
Police Department (and) to dispense marijuana out of there as frequently as
necessary to fill the demand of local medical cannabis users," Eros
HamiltonTalbot, one of the backers of the proposal, told Reuters.

Last November, Californians passed a ballot initiative legalizing the use
of marijuana by sick people. Supporters say marijuana helps ease the pain
of people suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other illnesses.

The new state law, which was strongly opposed by the Clinton administration
and many state officials, permits sick people and their caregivers to grow
and possess marijuana.

Thousands of sick people regularly obtain the drug from clubs in San
Francisco and other California cities.

HamiltonTalbot said it would be convenient to have a medical marijuana
dispensary at the police station in Fort Bragg, a small coastal town 150
miles (240 kms) north of San Francisco. Currently, local medical marijuana
users must travel 50 miles (80 kms) to the town of Ukiah to obtain the
drug, she said.

"It would solve problems of security. It would solve problems of the police
wanting to know what's going on. If they want to check it, it's easy enough
to do if it's being held in their conference room," said HamiltonTalbot, a
member of the Ukiah Cannabis Buyers' Club.

Backers of the idea sketched out their plan to Fort Bragg Polce Chief
Thomas Bickell at a meeting this week.

HamiltonTalbot said the police were supportive. "They think it's an
innovative idea," she said.

Bickell and other senior police officers in Fort Bragg could not
immediately be reached for comment.

However, Fort Bragg police Capt. Rich Wiseman told the San Francisco
Chronicle that the law as it stood would prevent such a dispensary at
police headquarters.

"We can't cultivate marijuana for any purpose. It's against the law. We're
not a care provider. We're a law enforcement agency," he was quoted as saying.

Jim Murphey, the Fort Bragg city administrator, said he opposed the idea.
However, the proposal may be discussed at a meeting of the Fort Bragg city
council's public safety committee next month, Murphey said.