CITY LOOKS AT USE OF MEDICINAL POT

The Sonora City Council will wait a month to address a proposed
ordinance that would prevent medicinal marijuana patients from using
pot in public.

Council members were prepared to vote on a change in the city's law
regarding alcohol consumption in public -- adding pot to the equation.

But when the council was informed some patients use the drug orally,
without smoking it, they sent the ordinance change back for revisions.

The modification was proposed by Sgt. Turu VanderWiel of the Sonora
Police Department.

VanderWeil saw the need to make all marijuana smoking, even with a
prescription, illegal on city streets.

To make smoking marijuana in public a misdemeanor means clearing up a
very murky area, said police Chief Mace McIntosh.

"There is a lot of gray area on this stateside," McIntosh said prior
to the meeting.

"Many people with valid prescriptions and medicinal user cards are
now taking their use of the substance into the streets to bring
notice to their legal right," he told the council, reading from a
letter written by VanderWeil.

The council had no questions for the police chief and the floor was
then open for public comment.

Christopher Demars, 28, gave the council, as well as audience
members, a lesson on medical pot. Not all people who use medicinal
marijuana actually smoke it, he said.

Demars told the council he was there to represent not only himself,
but his father who could not attend due to the effects of multiple sclerosis.

He went on to tell the council that his father takes marijuana
orally, he does not smoke it publicly, yet he will still be breaking
the law should the ordinance be passed, simply by possessing it or
ingesting it.

The tincture he uses is extracted oil from the flower of the
marijuana plant which is combined with grape seed oil and placed
under the tongue for managing pain, Demars explained.

"There is no second hand smoke in that," he said, addressing issues
raised by McIntosh.

Demars' father has suffered with MS for the past 20 years. By 4 p.m.
most days, he is in bed due to chronic pain and nausea.

His primary caregiver since 2002, Demars has witnessed his father's
deterioration first hand.

He said his father is in constant pain, confined to a wheelchair, and
will never get better.

"I feel like the city is targeting people who are sick, disabled or
dying," he said.

After Demars spoke, the council agreed to readdress the issue and
rewrite the proposed ordinance.

"I will consult recent case law," said Richard Matranga, the attorney
for the city of Sonora.

Mayor Hank Russell and City Administrator Greg Applegate both agreed
this was the way city government should work.

"This is an example of the power of an individual to influence
government," said Russell.

Demars admits to being surprised at the council's response.

"I am glad they delayed the vote and didn't override the wishes of
the public," he said. "We would have had to pursue a lawsuit had the
outcome been different."

The council will again consider the ordinance on Nov. 19.