FRYE WANTS MEDICAL POT TASK FORCE BACK

Councilwoman: City Can Clarify Policies

SAN DIEGO -- Pot collectives keep opening across San Diego, and
Councilwoman Donna Frye keeps getting asked how constituents can
acquire medical marijuana without being arrested.

So Frye thinks there's no better time to re-establish the city's
medical marijuana task force, a long-dormant committee that earlier
this decade developed guidelines to help patients follow state
medical pot laws.

People have a right to be provided with the information that will
allow them to comply with the law that voters approved," Frye said.
"It may be a matter of common sense, but it's also an issue of
compassion for people who are legitimate patients who should not have
to live under a cloud of fear."

On May 11, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit San
Diego County filed against California. The suit contended that the
state cannot require counties to issue IDs to medical marijuana
patients because the drug remains illegal under federal law.

Frye said the high court's inaction gives the city an opportunity to
clarify local policies toward medical marijuana.

Two medical pot collectives opened in San Diego this month, raising
to at least 20 the number of listings on Web sites alerting patients
to sources of the drug.

The proliferation of storefront dispensaries comes as local law
enforcement officials say there's no allowance in state laws for
over-the-counter pot sales.

In 2006, federal drug agents joined San Diego-area police and
deputies in raiding more than a dozen dispensaries. They confiscated
marijuana, patient records and cash, and they threatened the
operators of other storefronts with similar raids if they didn't close.

Since then, patients have struggled to find safe and reliable sources
of marijuana, which can be legally cultivated for medicinal use but
is often difficult to grow effectively.

Other communities across California have adopted specific rules
governing collectives beyond guidelines from the state Attorney
General's Office.

Seven years ago, the San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force developed
a standard that qualified patients could adhere to for growing and
smoking marijuana, which has been shown to relieve pain and stimulate
the appetite for cancer and other patients.

The San Diego guidelines called for city-issued identification, but
the effort was stalled when the state required counties to issue IDs
to medical pot patients. San Diego County refused and tried to take
the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Juliana Humphrey, a San Diego defense lawyer who chaired the defunct
task force, said that lawsuit's rejection provides an opportunity for
local officials to clarify how they now plan to enforce state medical pot laws.

The last piece of the puzzle is to set out what are our community
guidelines," Humphrey said. "The people of San Diego deserve to know
what's legal and what's not legal."

Mayor Jerry Sanders didn't return calls seeking comment on the
growing number of dispensaries or Frye's idea to reconstitute the
task force. Frye said she plans to bring the issue to the City
Council as soon as next month.