Sonoma County Details Policy for Medical Pot
By George Snyder
Chronicle North Bay Bureau

Bona fide medical marijuana users, and their designated caretakers, will
be allowed to cultivate, possess and use the plant to relieve serious
health maladies under new Proposition 215 guidelines extended yesterday
by the Sonoma County district attorney's office.

However, unlike San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Clara County, Sonoma
will not allow marijuana buyers' clubs.

We're somewhere in the middle of the spectrum in terms of where we stand
in our interpretations of the medical marijuana law," said Sonoma County
District Attorney Mike Mullins.

"We believe that the statute must be implemented, but only for growing
for personal use to alleviate a serious illness," Mullins said. "No money
will change hands."

Mullins said the guidelines were developed after numerous meetings among
members of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Acting Sheriff Jim
Piccini and his own office. Other jurisdictions within the county are
still studying the guidelines, he said.

Both Mullins and community activist Mary Moore, a founder of the Sonoma
Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said they worked amicably, along with the
county sheriff's department, to come up with the policy.

"I'm very, very pleased with the results," said Moore, a Sebastopo1
clothingstore owner and community activist. "We had six months of
meetings and we only finished up last Monday. I have to have to credit
them with more movement on the issue on their part than ours. I think we
are the first county to have worked it out this way."

Moore added, however, that finding doctors willing to recommend
marijuana is still a hurdle for patients.

"Many of them (doctors) are still afraid. We are meeting. next with the
director of the county health department to work on that issue," she
said.

Patients, according to the poliocyan, must be state residents seriously
ill with "cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma,
arthritis, migraines and any other illness for which marijuana provides
relief." They also must be examined by a doctor and have the physician
recommend that their health would benefit from using the drug.

Caregivers, under the policy must have personal knowledge of the
physician's recommendation and cannot use the drug themselves or sell
it.