COURT RULING VEXES MEDICAL POT USERS

The pace of phone calls coming into the office of Ventura County
Alliance of Medical Marijuana Patients has quickened in the past four weeks.

Patients are fearful of arrest, unclear about how they can get
cannabis and unsure of the legality of what they are doing, because
the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the federal
government can prosecute them for using even if it is legal in California.

Lisa Cordova Schwarz, alliance founder, answers the calls, offering
advice on everything from understanding the law and growing cannabis
to providing referrals to medical marijuana dispensaries and issuing
identification cards to verified patients.

"We have been inundated with calls," Schwarz said. "I don't think
(the decision) set the movement back at all. I think it wreaked
psychological havoc on patients."

Legally, the ruling essentially maintains the status quo, but it has
made Schwarz rethink one of her goals for the nonprofit resource
center, because she feels it would make it vulnerable to federal prosecution.

"We had planned on having a dispensary," she said, "but with the
federal decision coming down we figured it wasn't our time yet."

Two weeks ago, federal drug agents raided more than 20 dispensaries.
Three of the raided pot clubs in San Francisco were alleged to be
fronts for an international drug trafficking ring.

A Simi Valley man backed out of a plan to open a dispensary in that
city in the wake of the court decision. When he first proposed the
idea, the city reacted by imposing a temporary moratorium on dispensaries.

In Moorpark, the City Council is readying itself to vote this week on
its own temporary moratorium.

In the nine years since voters approved the Compassionate Use Act,
legalizing medical marijuana, only one dispensary has ever opened in
Ventura County.

The Rainbow Country Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center closed in
March of 1998, six months after it opened. The Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department confiscated owner Andrea Nagy's marijuana and
cultivating equipment.

Dale Gierigner, the head of the California office for the National
Organization for the Reform of Medical Marijuana Laws, said about a
dozen medical cannabis suppliers have asked to be taken off the
group's referral list for "whatever reason."

Locally, law enforcement officials said they would proceed as they always have.

"The (California) attorney general has issued an edict that nothing
is going to change," Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeff Bennett
said. "We have local guidelines. We will follow the law as it is
written in California, but people have to remember it is is still a
crime under federal law."

Schwarz, who suffers from chronic back pain, migraines and other
problems, started the alliance after she was arrested in 1999 for
marijuana cultivation. Prosecutors dismissed the charges in 2001.

Ventura County Alliance of Medical Marijuana Patients has nearly 400
members, said Schwarz, a former nurse. Membership is $50 a year, but
those on limited incomes or receiving Medi-Cal, are only charged $25
and seniors and veterans pay $35.

Standing in the alliance's window-lined hallway recently, Schwarz
listed the things she'd like to offer at the center: a full-time
social worker, a pain management class, and care packages for people
who have just received diagnoses are just a few.

As part of the membership, the organization keeps an attorney on
retainer to assist when needed in court cases.

The group also supplies packets of information about medical
marijuana-related law for public defenders who might represent
arrested patients.

Derek Wengeler, a 24-year-old real estate agent and father of two
from San Luis Obispo who has chronic pain from several injuries, is
facing his own court date. He was recently arrested for possession,
though he had his identification card and doctor's letter. He took
the day off work to meet with Schwarz to discuss his situation.

"I might have one of my patients up there come and be with you,"
Schwarz said to Wengeler about his court date.

"I've never been arrested before," he said. "I'm not a criminal. My
knees were shaking."

While talking about the court case, Wengeler and Schwarz also
discussed growing their marijuana plants. Growing a small amount of
marijuana for medical use is permitted under California law, but
growers could face prosecution by federal authorities.

"I shut it down because of the federal thing," Wengeler said. "I'm
afraid of the government coming in and ruining my life."

They discussed using marijuana in cooking oils. Schwarz described her
desire to provide marijuana in edible forms to patients, particularly
those who cannot grow their own because of illness or age.

They agreed that using marijuana for their physical ailments is the
only thing that has brought them relief.

"People don't understand it," said Schwarz. "They think we're all potheads."