THE MESS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The successful referendum challenging San Diego's restrictions on the
location of medical marijuana dispensaries, and the City Council's
subsequent decision to repeal the restrictions, has boomeranged on the
drug's proponents. More importantly, it has served to make an even
mushier mess of the 15-year effort to provide access to marijuana for
legitimate medicinal purposes while still protecting neighborhoods and
not running too far afoul of the outright prohibitions of federal law.

Rightly concluding that in the absence of the ordinance he has a moral
responsibility to enforce state law and local zoning, City Attorney
Jan Goldsmith last week intensified efforts to take the dispensaries
to court to shut them all down, in phases, beginning with those he
believes are the most flagrant violators. He sought injunctions
against a dozen dispensaries allegedly operating within 600 feet of
schools, a violation of state law.

He said he did not want to "overwhelm" the judge considering the
injunctions by going after all the dispensaries at the same time, but
that he will do it "in waves" until all 187 or so dispensaries are
closed.

The City Council is legally limited in what it can do in the wake of
the referendum, but Goldsmith said the court has more leeway to impose
conditions on the dispensaries, which have mushroomed from an
estimated 160 since the restrictions were repealed, or even to order
Goldsmith to halt his enforcement effort.

"I'm just looking for some direction and some help," Goldsmith
said.

All of which serves to highlight just how badly written was
Proposition 215, the 1996 measure approved by California voters that
sought to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes but which has
essentially become a vehicle for legalized recreational use of the
drug.

There is ample evidence that marijuana offers more relief than
conventional medications for some patients who suffer from some
serious ailments, such as multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer.

But if marijuana is to be used as medicine, it ought to be treated as
medicine under the law. And the only state that comes close to that
standard is New Jersey.

Under the New Jersey law passed last year, there can be only six
nonprofit dispensaries, scattered geographically around the entire
state. Like other dangerous drugs, patients are limited to how much
marijuana they can buy each month. The level of THC the active
ingredient in marijuana is limited. Patients can get a recommendation
for marijuana only from a doctor with whom they have an established
and bona fide relationship, and the doctor must be registered and
approved by the state. And the list of ailments qualifying for
marijuana treatment, while lengthy, is limited.

Sadly, it is 15 years too late for California to be that smart. The
medical marijuana mess will be with us for a long time to come.