Editorial Page

PROGRESS ON MARIJUANA

Key Orange County law enforcement officials argued during the
election that Prop. 215, the medical marijuana initiative, could not be
enforced, given that medical marijuana would still be illegal under federal
law.

Now we find their initial resistance diminishing and steps being
taken toward an enforcement policy. In fact, communities around the state
seem to be finding workable ways of reconciling the fact that voters passed
Prop. 215 now Section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code.
Voters clearly signaled that they want sick people to have access to
marijuana while possession and sale of marijuana remains illegal for the
rest of us.

In Orange County, Sheriff's deputies are given some discretion as
to how the law is applied, according to Lt. Ron Wilderson. If deputies find
people in possession of marijuana but with a doctor's note, no citation is
to be issued if the note seems legitimate, but a report is to be written
for the Narcotics Detail. "Under no circumstances will the aforementioned
report be submitted for prosecution by any member of the Department other
than a member of the Narcotics Detail," a Feb. 24 department memo says. The
department to date has no written policy on turning over information on
possessors or doctors to federal authorities.

Orange County District Attorney Michael Capizzi told us recently he
had no written policy but planned to follow the law. His office declined to
prosecute a woman who had a small amount of marijuana and a doctor's note,
but referred the doctor's name to federal authorities because he was a V.A.
doctor. Future incidents will be handled on a casebycase basis, with the
emphasis on whether a person has a valid recommendation from a licensed
doctor, a narcotics division spokesman said Wednesday.

Other communities have taken various approaches. The Cannabis
Buyers Club in San Francisco, which had begun operating before the election
and was closed by state authorities just before the election, is back in
business with the blessing of the San Francisco Superior Court.

In Berkeley, the Berkeley Police Department on March 20 issued a
Training and Information Bulletin on the subject.

It notes that the proposition contained two elements that "a
medical doctor (an M.D.) must have recommended the use of marijuana" and
that "the amount of marijuana that is possessed or is being cultivated must
be commensurate with the personal medical use of the patient."

The bulletin also summarizes the San Francisco Superior Court
ruling that a buyers club can be designated as a "primary care giver" under
the new law, but only if it is really a nonprofit organization as
documented by financial records, maintains records showing that its members
have formally designated the club as a "primary care giver" and its members
really have a doctor's recommendation.

In San Jose, the city government is treating "medical marijuana
dispensaries" like any other business, authorized to operate in commercial
areas and to grow plants onsite.

Despite threats from federal officials none carried out so far
California doctors, patients and lawenforcement agencies are finding
ways to harmonize Sec. 11362.5 with existing law. It would be nice to see
further guidelines in Orange County dealing with buyers' clubs, doctors and
their recommendations and federal issues.

Most encouraging, various efforts to date suggest that enforcement
of the new law will not present insuperable problems.