POT LAW CREATES A CONFUSING CLOUD

In 1996, when voters approved Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
initiative, most Californians did not envision what's playing out in Arcata.

As The Bee's Peter Hecht reported recently, this Humboldt County town
has become the legal pot capital of the country. Hundreds of medical
marijuana growers supply dozens of cooperatives that dispense the
drug. It has become the financial mainstay of a community where
logging and fishing once dominated.

Voters did not expect to open the door for "pot docs." These are
physicians who charge as much as $250 per evaluation before handing
over a recommendation that allows a patient to grow and use pot
legally. While some patients are sick and use pot to relieve
suffering, clearly others are seeking a legal way to get stoned.

Voters did not anticipate the rise of medical marijuana grow houses
and with them home invasion robberies. A Sacramento man was killed,
two others shot and three houses invaded last October.

The one common element in the local crime spree -- large amounts of
medical marijuana present in the homes.

Alarmed by the proliferation of pot dispensaries, various city
councils, including Sacramento's, have slapped moratoriums on new
establishments while they seek to sort our new rules for these
problematic enterprises. West Sacramento moved this week to set up
guidelines and keep pot dispensaries out of residential neighborhoods
and away from schools.

In Los Angeles, the district attorney has told the City Council it is
acting illegally in establishing a policy that permits pot
dispensaries to sell drugs over the counter. As the DA interprets the
law, all sales of marijuana are illegal.

Today, 13 years after the initiative passed and more than a year
after Attorney General Jerry Brown issued new guidelines on how to
interpret and enforce the Compassionate Use Act, confusion abounds.

The initiative legalized marijuana use for patients who suffered from
a variety of illnesses including AIDS, chronic pain, arthritis and
"any other illness for which marijuana provides relief." That last
phrase opened the door to everything from the common cold to a
hangnail, and profiteers have marched through it.

The attorney general's guidelines say people can't sell it for a
profit, but that doesn't prevent physicians from making millions
issuing marijuana recommendations and dispensaries from amassing
sizable fortunes selling pot over the counter.

It does not prevent the Oakland City Council from approving an
ordinance that charges that city's pot dispensaries $18 in tax for
every $1,000 of medical marijuana sold.

The current confusing state of our marijuana laws stymies law
enforcement, corrupts the medical profession and confounds elected
officials. Are pot dispensaries legitimate businesses that can be
taxed or not? The way the proposition was drafted makes it difficult
for lawmakers to regulate this budding industry (excuse the pun). It
also makes it difficult to amend the law without going back to the voters.

It's time to do that. The public in California faces three options:
1) Legalize marijuana, then regulate it and tax it; 2) tighten up and
clarify Proposition 215; or 3) repeal it.

The status quo is unacceptable.