COMMUNITY DIVIDED ON MARIJUANA ISSUE

Pot For Sale?

A recent proposal out of San Francisco to legalize and tax the sale
of marijuana has raised questions about the future of the substance
in California.

Marijuana has come back into the spotlight recently with San
Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's Feb. 23 proposal to legalize the
sale of marijuana, because the tax from the sales could help balance
the state budget, he said.

If passed, this proposal would make marijuana available to adults 21
and older for any type of use, not just medical, according to
Ammiano's Assembly Bill 390.

Ammiano has served San Francisco for several years, advocating
progressive issues, such as universal healthcare, domestic
partnerships and immigrant housing. His plan to legalize marijuana
has once again raised some eyebrows.

But Quintin Mecke, communications director for Ammiano, said
legalizing marijuana would improve public safety by treating it much
like alcohol.

Dale Gieringer, vice-chair of The National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, is one individual who thinks California is
moving toward a population that wants less restriction of controlled
substances.

NORML, a California-based group, has co-sponsored the medical
marijuana initiative and is also a co-sponsor of Ammiano's bill.

Gieringer thinks the legalization of marijuana would be helpful to
the economy, but would be far from fixing it altogether, he said.

"This country has deeper economic issues than that; marijuana would
be helpful to the economy, but you do have to put in some
perspective," he said. "We estimate that the revenues from the
Ammiano bill would be over a billion dollars for the state."

The faltering economy has made Californians rethink their stances
about marijuana, Gieringer said.

"Does it make sense, with a bad economy, to be spending all this
money in a really wasteful and unsuccessful attempt to stop marijuana
use when we could be raising money from it?" Gieringer said.

Where It All Started

In 1996, Proposition 215 passed, allowing patients with certain
medical conditions to use marijuana. It was called the Compassionate
Use Act and would later be complemented by Senate Bill 420 in 2004,
which defines guidelines for medical marijuana use allowed in Proposition 215.

Gieringer thinks that with Ammiano's proposal and the legalization of
medical marijuana in 1996, Californians want a government that is
less restrictive on substances.

"The government is the last thing to move in that direction,"
Gieringer said. "They have a tremendous vested interest to proving
that they are protecting the public by making anything that is
slightly unhealthy a crime."

Gieringer said it may take an initiative to completely legalize
marijuana, but he is proud his organization has helped legalize the
use of medical marijuana.

Inconsistent policy

Although legal in the state of California, medical marijuana is not
allowed by the federal government, causing confusion and uncertainty
for a lot of people, including Jeff Thomas, chief of clinical
medicine at Chico State's Student Health Center.

"It seems like it's a really inconsistent policy," Thomas said.

Thomas has mixed feelings about medical marijuana, he said. It can
provide symptom relief, but the drug also releases toxic compounds
when smoked, similar to tobacco.

"I think there are certain conditions where medical marijuana is
helpful," Thomas said.

Chronic wasting disease, a side effect of cancer and radiation
treatment that nausea and vomiting, is an example of when marijuana
can be beneficial, Thomas said.

Thomas understands the benefits in terminal cases, but when medical
marijuana evaluation companies use back pain and headaches as reasons
to use marijuana, "you're really kind of getting on thin ice," Thomas said.

Advertisements for medical marijuana evaluations are found in
different Chico newspapers, such as The Orion and the Chico News & Review.

One advertisement uses the slogan, "not just for illness, but for
wellness," and offers confidential evaluations for symptoms, such as
chronic pain, cancer, migraines "and many more."

A police officer's view

Officer Bill Dawson of the Chico Police Department has been on the
force for more than 21 years and sees a lot of issues with medical
marijuana use in Chico, even though he voted to legalize it.

"There is no control right now," Dawson said. "Anybody and their
uncle can grow it."

Dawson has seen a significant increase in crime when it comes to
medical and recreational marijuana use in Chico over the past 10
years, especially throughout the student population, he said. College
students have even been killed over it.

"I would say because we have more of a party-school atmosphere, there
are a lot of issues with medical marijuana," Dawson said. "A lot of
students are naive."

The department has dealt with crimes that stem from people who grow
medical marijuana - mostly home invasions and robberies.

"It's a very dangerous thing," Dawson said.

Theft resulting from people growing and storing medical marijuana in
their residences has caused specific guidelines to be put on the
Butte County District Attorney Web site, buttecounty.net/da/215.htm.
These guidelines include labeling all marijuana packages and gardens
with a copy of the user's recommendation, and reporting any robbery
to law enforcement.

Because he is a police officer, Dawson is still seen as an enemy by
marijuana consumers who have come up to the front door of the police
department, smoking marijuana with their recommendation cards to
taunt officers, he said.

The current drug laws, a good growing climate and the young
population all contribute the marijuana abuse in Chico, Dawson said.
The issue is not one that is going to go away soon, either.

Although Dawson sees medical marijuana as a problem in a school such
as Chico State, not all students support the laws.

Community perspectives

Jeremy Ballard, a 26-year-old senior from Lincoln, doesn't like
people using marijuana, no matter what health conditions they have, he said.

"I don't want a bunch of hippies smoking marijuana," Ballard said.
"Aren't there painkillers for that?"

Ballard, who describes himself as conservative, thinks medical
marijuana has alternative motives that many don't know about, he
said. But the issue is not divided between conservatives and liberals.

On the other hand, Rick Saideh, manager of The Dungeon, a smoke shop
on 132 Broadway St., supports medical marijuana and sees benefits
that would help ordinary people, he said. Stress relief from home
life and financial situations are some reasons to turn to marijuana.

"Stress relief - it's really important in life," Saideh said.

The Dungeon and the Natural Care for Wellness, a health-service
business, both support medical marijuana and each share one possible
reason for supporting it: They both profit from the smoking of marijuana.

The Dungeon has more than 100 pipes, bongs and other
marijuana-smoking paraphernalia on display in the back room of its
shop which is guarded only by plastic chains hanging in front of it
and an "18 and over" sign outside. The pipes and bongs sold at the
Dungeon range in price from $20 to more than $500 for upper-end models.

Saideh, a dark-haired, middle-aged man, said that although the shop
is located near the Chico State campus, most of their customers are
not students, but rather older adults.

"My main target is 30 and up," he said.

Saideh's support of medical marijuana does come with an air of
caution to anyone who may be looking to abuse it. Negatives, such as
body damage over extended periods of use, can occur.