BE VERY CAREFUL

Past issues of CityBeat contained advertisements alerting readers to
businesses offering to facilitate a client's obtaining of a
physician's recommendation/approval to use medical marijuana under
the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. By law, the physician's letter of
approval is all the evidence a patient needs to present to law
enforcement and the courts for use as an "affirmative defense" from
prosecution for the possession and cultivation of marijuana. This
same physician's letter will be required to obtain the state ID card
when it is issued by the county Board of Health.

The sale of marijuana is not sanctioned in the law and has been ruled
against in both state and federal court. In the event a patient has
an encounter with state law enforcement, the patient must "assert an
affirmative defense" to charges of possessing and growing cannabis by
presenting the doctor's approval letter. Under questioning, patients
will often be asked by police officers, with no medical education, to
describe intimate or clinical health details regarding their use of
medical marijuana and other medications.

Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges may question the
approving physician to determine, for example: what are the
physician's qualifications, how long and how often has the doctor
seen the patient in the office, what is the clinical diagnosis, what
kind of examinations and tests have been performed, what other
medications and treatments have been tried? If a good faith
relationship between the physician and patient cannot be demonstrated
to the court's satisfaction, the patient, now also likely a
defendant, may be denied a "Prop 215 defense" in court and may then
face trial as a common drug criminal.

Letters of recommendation/approval signed by out-of-town doctors are
immediately suspect. Letters signed by physician assistants have been
rejected by the San Diego District Attorney's Office and should not
be trusted to keep a patient out of jail, while pre-signed copies of
the physician letter issued by office staff at a strip mall are
simply invitations to trouble. Jail. Prison.

The physician's conduct and role in the process is critically
important to the patient's attempt to comply with the law, stay safe
and avoid prosecution. To help ensure that, the U.S. Supreme Court
has let stand an order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (Conant
v. Walters) that protects doctors who recommend marijuana to their
patients. Knowing about this protection, patients and their doctors
feel freer to talk openly and honestly about the many benefits
cannabis provides. Doctors soon learn that they have many patients
that quietly use marijuana for a number of ailments. A letter from
that doctor will stand up in any court, and that's the point here.

Don't look for cheap fixes or shortcuts to keep you safe and well.
You can get information about the Compassionate Use Act, physician
approval forms, lists of conditions cannabis helps to treat,
information about the city of San Diego's medical marijuana
guidelines by contacting us at stiritup@cannabis.sdcoxmail.com or 619-528-1850.

Barbara MacKenzie, Steve McWilliams

Shelter From the Storm