PROP. 19 POT COST EFFECT DEBATED

Medical marijuana advocates mixed on issue

Inland Empire medical marijuana advocates have mixed feelings on the
proposition seeking to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

If approved by voters in November, Proposition 19, or Tax Cannabis
2010, will make it legal for adults 21 years and older to possess,
cultivate or transport marijuana for personal use.

Some advocates contend the proposition will lower the cost of medical
marijuana and open the door for cities to embrace the drug.

Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Inland Empire chapter of the
Marijuana Anti-Prohibition project, said the only real effect the
proposition may have on the medical side is price.

"The only major effect I see is in counties which allow it, it will
allow for large-scale growing outdoors which should help bring the
price down substantially," said Swerdlow, a registered nurse who has
visited with patients who say they cannot afford to use medical marijuana.

"I never ever want to hear a 75-year-old lady in chronic pain tell me
that she has to use Vicodin because she can't afford to buy the
marijuana," Swerdlow said.

"The only thing on the horizon that is out there that's going to bring
the price down is going to be Prop. 19, and that's why it's so important."

A Survey USA poll this month found that 50 percent of likely
Californian voters would vote yes on Proposition 19 and 40 percent
would vote no.

Dan Newman, a spokesman for the Yes on Prop. 19 campaign, said there
will be no impact on the medical marijuana industry.

"Proposition 19 will have zero, - zilch - nada impact on the current
legal rights granted to patients, caregivers, doctors, collectives and
cooperatives under California's existing medical cannabis laws," he
said in an e-mail.

California's medical marijuana laws will remain intact and unchanged,
he said.

Voters approved a measure in 1996 that decriminalizes the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes if recommended by a physician.
Lawmakers in 2004 made it mandatory for counties to implement a
medical marijuana identification card program.

Jan Werner, an operator of the Inland Empire Patients Group in
Bloomington, views the proposition to be potentially detrimental to
the strides made to decriminalize medical marijuana.

He said the cost of medical marijuana is already decreasing.

"Part of the problem is the way it's been suggested to the public," he
said. "That it's going to make marijuana legal for everyone, and in
fact it's probably going to take about five steps backwards."

There are an estimated $15 billion in illegal marijuana transactions
in California each year, according to the proposition's authors. The
state Board of Equalization estimates taxes on marijuana could be as
much as $1.4 billion.

The proposition gives city and county governments the ability to
regulate and tax marijuana sales, or prohibit them entirely.

If marijuana were legalized, the government would have more control
over the distribution of marijuana, which Werner said could put his
cooperative out of business.

"It's up to them who would get it, where to get it and how much to get
it for. It sounds ridiculous," he said. "It sounds like they're trying
to set it up for big corporations."

Aaron Sandusky, president of G3 Holistic, a medical marijuana
cooperative in Upland, said he recognizes several flaws in the
proposition but supports its goal.

"It's definitely a big step, but I think it's a positive step," he
said. "The benefits outweigh the negatives, I think."

Sandusky said some of those benefits would include lowering the price
of medical marijuana, because medical-grade marijuana is difficult to
grow.

"Not anybody can grow it," Sandusky said. "Everybody will try, but
it's difficult to do, and I think the quality will increase, the
prices will come down and it will make it more affordable for patients
to gain access."

Legalization could also lead to insurance companies covering some of
the cost of medical marijuana, he said.

Some provisions that have come under scrutiny include the ability to
grow within a 5-foot-by-5-foot space and legalizing possession of up
to 1 ounce.

The 5-by-5 space "definitely challenges the amount that allows you to
possess at most an ounce," Sandusky said. "Five-by-five grows more
than an ounce. It opens doors to be prosecuted there."

It also will make it illegal to smoke around minors.

"There are some provisions that really are disturbing," Swerdlow said.
"You can't smoke, can't consume in front of minors. What if you're at
home and your kids are at home? Do you have to lock yourself in some
kind of room? You can sit there and down a Jack Daniels, but you can't
smoke a joint."