FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CHANGES ITS POLICIES ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

When a student was caught smoking marijuana in the Tahoe National
Forest, he might once have faced charges despite having a medical
marijuana card. Instead, in this particular case, prosecutors dropped
the charges because of recent changes in drug policy, said
Roseville-based defense attorney Toni Carbone.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Oct. 20 the federal
government would stop prosecuting medical marijuana users in states
that had passed medical marijuana laws, such as California and 12
other states, including Nevada and Oregon.

Carbone has already seen the effects of this change. Her client
received no penalty even though park rangers ticketed him for having
1.2 grams of marijuana on federal land, where state medical marijuana
laws do not apply.

California voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, creating a program
that allowed people to obtain doctors' recommendations to use
marijuana and obtain it from dispensaries throughout the state.

State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill that
would legalize and tax marijuana in California and held a hearing Oct.
28 at the state Capitol as part of the Public Safety Committee, which
he chairs. It was the first-ever legislative hearing held on marijuana
legalization.

The Obama administration's reversal and Ammiano's bill has raised
hopes among marijuana advocates that broader decriminalization or
legalization of the drug could be possible.

"I think this may be a historic opening," said Allen Hopper, a lawyer
with the American Civil Liberties Union, in testimony at the state
Capitol.

Ammiano's bill, A.B. 390, would allow people to grow, sell and possess
marijuana in the state, while the state would collect fees and taxes
along the way.

"If the Ammiano bill were to pass, you would shortly see pot bars in
every campus town in the state, right alongside the more traditional
alcohol bars, and that would assure that students who wanted to
purchase marijuana would have a convenient place to do that," Keith
Stroup, a lawyer for the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws, said in an email.

In addition, marijuana groups are collecting signatures for a ballot
initiative set for the November 2010 election that would also tax and
legalize marijuana.

Paul Fabbri, a student at American River College, collects signatures
for the measure on the Library Quad at Sacramento State. Fabbri, who
is paid 70 cents per signature by Oaksterdam University, said the
measure would generate billions for the state.

"Not that much is going to change except we'll be able to make money
off it," Fabbri said, arguing that marijuana use was so widespread
that the state could not afford to let a revenue opportunity slip away.

Both efforts face legal hurdles, including whether the state can
legalize and profit from behavior prohibited by the federal government.

Although the federal government has eased up on medical marijuana
users, it is uncertain whether it would tolerate further loosening of
marijuana laws. Obama said at an online town hall meeting in March
that he did not believe legalizing marijuana was a good way to
stimulate the economy.

Tamara Todd, an attorney for the Drug Policy Network's office of legal
affairs, told the Public Safety Committee that nothing prevents the
state from changing its laws.

"Tomorrow, California could repeal its entire criminal code," Todd
said, adding that she believed nothing in the Constitution required
certain things to be illegal.

The state Legislative Analyst and the Board of Equalization, which
collects taxes, tried to quantify marijuana sales to anticipate the
bill's impact. This is difficult because records are not kept for
sales of illegal substances, Robert Eugenito told the committee.

The Board of Equalization assumed legalization would lead to lower
prices, which would increase demand for the drug.

Before Ammiano's hearing, an anti-drug group held a news conference
denouncing the bill. Bishop Ron Allen of the International Faith-Based
Coalition joined State Sen. George Runner, R-Antelope, in slamming the
proposal.

"We simply say, 'Seriously?' to the legalization of marijuana," Allen
said.

Runner called the bill "another dumb legislative proposal."

None of this, however, changes California State University
regulations.

The Chancellor's Office has advised campuses that it does not believe
California's medical marijuana law applies to college campuses and the
CSU system would risk losing federal funding if it did not prohibit
all marijuana use on its property.

In the Sacramento State residence halls, students are not allowed to
smoke or use marijuana for any purpose.

Students living in the residence halls have to sign a license document
that outlines the residence hall policies. It states, "Marijuana is
illegal. Use of marijuana in any form on University property is
prohibited ... Medical marijuana cards are not recognized."

Carbone said California's medical marijuana law applies once a student
is in court, not when they were caught using the drug.

"It's only an affirmative defense," she said. "It's not immunity from
being arrested."