MEDICAL POT SOLUTION IGNORED

It's Not Good That Attorney General Harris Has Tossed the Ball To
Legislators and Is Standing on the Sideline.

It's a good thing that some legislators are willing to take on
California's medical marijuana morass. State Attorney General Kamala
Harris just tossed it in their laps.

It's perhaps a safer course to stay out of the fray and issue a
carefully crafted, completely inoffensive statement, as she did last
week, that supports the "compassionate use" of medical marijuana for
the ill, expresses concern about criminal enterprises exploiting the
law and urges federal authorities to focus enforcement on significant
traffickers.

But for the state's top law enforcement officer, that's just not good
enough.

Patients, legitimate dispensaries, local governments and others
desperately need more clarity on what they can and can't do -- and
they were right to look to Harris for help. The attorney general's
office has its reasons for taking a pass. It says that any guidelines
it issues would not be legally binding, that the courts are largely
deciding how medical marijuana works in California and that new law
can come only from the Legislature.

Still, there are helpful steps that Harris can -- and should --
take.

She should organize a meeting with California's four U.S. attorneys,
who earlier this month announced a crackdown on major dispensaries,
growers and financiers, saying that medical marijuana had been
hijacked by profiteers.

If these five people could agree on a set of guidelines, that could go
a long way to sorting out this mess.

Harris also needs to give the Legislature a clear blueprint of how she
believes the law ought to work.

Her office has a good head start with work on "Guidelines for the
Security and Non-diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use." While
an 18-page April draft drew some criticism when it was leaked, much of
it seems to make a lot of sense.

For instance, there's a recommendation that patients get and carry a
state-issued marijuana identification card to prove they have a
doctor's recommendation. The draft includes suggestions for how
cooperatives and dispensaries should operate, including guidelines to
stay not-for-profit operations and membership applications to make
sure marijuana grows are for medical use. The draft also lists
guidelines for law enforcement officers and requirements that local
governments could impose on dispensaries.

It may be true that court rulings and federal actions since have been
game changers that undermined much of the draft. But her office still
knows more about the issues than any of the honorables in the Capitol.

The intensive involvement of the attorney general would greatly
improve the odds of legislators actually approving a smart solution --
one that preserves voters' intent in passing Proposition 215 in 1996
but can also pass muster with the federal government and the courts.

Californians elected Harris to lead on major legal issues like this,
not stand on the sidelines.