YUBA-SUTTER LAW ENFORCEMENT: STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW CONFUSING

Nate Bradley smokes marijuana.

Inhaling the smoke from the sticky green buds helps him cope with his
post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

Pot helps him sleep, helps him eat and, he said, has been a more
effective solution than prescription pills.

However, the former Wheatland police officer believes California
needs to completely overhaul the Compassionate Use Act, known as
Proposition 215.

"I'm not a big fan of it, but it's all we have to work with," Bradley said.

But if Bradley is dissatisfied with the state law, local law
enforcement officials are downright disgusted with the ever-expanding
list of issues associated with Proposition 215.

"It's caused nothing but confusion since the beginning," Marysville
police Chief Wallace Fullerton said.

Fullerton said the initiative narrowly passed by California voters in
1996 was "ill conceived."

"The whole section of law fits onto a single piece of regular paper,"
Fullerton noted. "Any drug policy on one sheet of paper is obviously
going to be fraught with problems."

Proposition 215 cleared the way for marijuana to be treated more like
medicine, but it did not reclassify the plant as medicine, creating a
unique legal limbo between state and federal governments.

"It has to be one of the worst pieces of legislation I've experienced
in my career," said Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor. "And the
numerous litigations in our court system over the years has not added
any clarity, which is what we need - greater clarity."

Sutter County Sheriff J. Paul Parker agreed.

"It's the most misunderstood law I've ever dealt with," Parker said.
"A lot of people think it's legal (for medical reasons), and it isn't."

The confusion stems from the conflict between state law, which
sometimes treats the plant as medicine, and federal law, which
maintains marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic like heroin and cocaine.

Parker noted that Proposition 215 did not technically legalize
marijuana. It gave card-holders an affirmative defense if detained by
law enforcement.

It is just one example of the confusion associated with
quasi-legitimacy, authorities said.

"Everybody - every district attorney, city council and board of
supervisors in the whole state - everybody has a different idea of
the way to handle it," Fullerton said.

Parker said one of the biggest problems he has seen is the widespread
abuse of Proposition 215.

"It was intended for people with horrible, debilitating diseases,"
Parker said. "But we see people who use it for nonspecific back pain,
insomnia and minor aches and pains."

Proposition 215 is also widely credited for creating a new class of
violent robberies and burglaries.

Home marijuana gardens have been on the rise steadily since 1996, law
enforcement officials said, and so have robberies associated with
those gardens.

Solid numbers on medical marijuana robberies are hard to come by, if
not impossible, law enforcement officials said. Not all agencies
classify marijuana garden robberies the same way and many such
robberies are believed to go unreported.

Four such robberies were reported in October in Yuba-Sutter,
including one that resulted in a high-speed chase and ended with one
person hospitalized who was not involved.

Two Olivehurst men were shot and killed in 2005 during a medical
marijuana garden robbery.

And many people believe that marijuana gardens in residential
neighborhoods create problems on a day-to-day basis that infringe on
neighbors even if such violence was not a factor.

Live Oak Mayor Gary Baland said city officials have received numerous
complaints from neighbors about the strong distinct odor of the
plants, which has been frequently likened to a skunk. Baland recently
said the smell prevented some residents from opening windows and
doors and degraded the quality of life for neighbors not involved
with marijuana.

However, the city's Planning Commission last week said it supported
an ordinance that would allow some home grows.

Law enforcement officials also said they have received more
complaints this year, but, once again, hard numbers were not available.

Yuba and Sutter counties are considering ordinances they hope will
clarify issues about where a person can grow and how much marijuana a
person can possess at a time.

But people on both sides of the issue agree those types of solutions
are like putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds. They said real reform
can only happen through a consistent policy among federal, state and
local governments.

"The legislatures can only make small changes or clarifications,"
Parker noted. "For it to really change, it would have to be voted on
by the people."

Bradley agreed that a comprehensive solution "from the ground up" is
the only way out of the maze.

Bradley said a better solution would have state-owned gardens that
distributed marijuana through licensed outlets directly to patients
and caregivers.

"Those types of regulated businesses would eliminate the need for
people to grow in their homes," Bradley said. "People would still
have the right to, but there would be no need."

But, really, Bradley said, "the best solution" is full legalization
for recreational use.

"Until I am able to buy it at Walgreens, there will always be
confusion and issues," Bradley said.

Law enforcement officials agreed with Bradley - sort of.

"Strictly from a personnel and resources point of view, yes, it would
be easier on law enforcement if we didn't have to expend any
resources at all on marijuana," Fullerton said.

Fullerton, Parker and Durfor were careful to note they do not support
legalization, but agreed the confusion surrounding the laws today
needs to be cleared up - somehow.

Bradley acknowledged legalization is a long way from happening - if
it ever does - but said it would still be a better solution than
having every city and county drafting unique ordinances year after year.

"Those types of solutions are only like putting duct tape on a
leaking dam - it's just not going to hold long-term, no matter what
you do," he said.