POT LIMIT: 3 POUNDS PER YEAR

Santa Cruz County Approves Medical Marijuana Ordinance

SANTA CRUZ - An impassioned audience greeted the Santa Cruz County Board of
Supervisors on Tuesday morning, when the board unanimously approved a new
ordinance providing guidelines for medical marijuana use in Santa Cruz County.

The decision will allow medical marijuana patients to possess up to three
pounds of dried cannabis buds (not leaves) per year, and users can
demonstrate medical need for more.

Patients will be able to grow "a 100-square foot canopy of mature female
cannabis plants," which will "typically yield three pounds of dried and
processed cannabis bud per year regardless of the number of marijuana
plants," according to the ordinance, which requires another vote before it
becomes a law.

Valerie Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana,
a Santa Cruz-based patient alliance that provides education on the medical
benefits of marijuana and ensures legal access to the plant, was "grateful
and pleased" after the decision.

"We've made such great strides in this community. I believe this is a good
ordinance," Corral said, adding that it could be amended in the future to
include a greater growth area.

Corral, surrounded by about 20 supporters of the ordinance, said WAMM
provides safe, weekly doses of marijuana to patients who need it.

"We always ask that physicians be a part of addressing the problem, so that
this isn't something that people go off on their own and determine
arbitrarily," she said.

The ordinance vote came after state voters in 1996 approved Proposition
215, which allows patients and their caregivers to cultivate or possess
medical marijuana with physician approval.

As of January, state law SB420 allowed counties to set a higher amount than
the state limit of eight ounces of dried marijuana and no more than six
mature or 12 immature marijuana plants per patient.

County Sheriff Mark Tracy received a great deal of praise from medical
marijuana supporters and county supervisors alike for his suggestion to
involve medical experts in recommending county limits for medical marijuana
possession.

The move was praised as "incredibly enlightened" by District 3 Supervisor
Mardi Wormhoudt, a firm supporter of the ordinance.

Based on Tracy's suggestion, the board asked a group of physicians,
including former county health officer Dr. George Wolf, to form
county-specific marijuana guidelines.

The board voted in August to craft the ordinance based on the physicians'
suggestions, with District 1 Supervisor Tony Campos opposing the move.

Campos reconsidered his original opposition after he spoke to a respected
oncologist, as well as close friends who suffered from bone cancer.

"A lot of people that take medical marijuana don't have those side effects
from chemotherapy," Campos said. "Once I heard it from a professional, it
made a big difference."

Campos also acknowledged that he initially thought three pounds was an
excessive amount.

"I didn't realize that it was for a whole year," he said.

Before voting, Supervisor Ellen Pirie questioned how patients would be
prosecuted if they were found with three pounds of marijuana, and then an
additional amount in the same year.

County counsel Dana McRae, who drafted the ordinance, acknowledged that
additional law enforcement procedures were needed to cover the new
ordinance, which does not address federal law enforcement issues.

Dennis Papadopolo, a wheelchair-bound Live Oak resident who suffers from
Hepatitis C and brain damage due to a bullet wound, said he uses two to
three joints of marijuana per day to manage intense pain.

"I'm glad this happened; this has been in the works for a long time,"
Papadopolo said. "They had me on so many medications before marijuana."

Attorney Ben Rice, who has represented 25-30 medical marijuana users in the
past two years, at least a third of them from south county, also supported
the ordinance.

"Three pounds is enough for many, but for people that are in serious
chronic pain, it may not be," Rice said. "The point is it should be between
doctor and patient. This is a great first step."

Andrea Tischler, who operates the Compassion Flower Inn, a
bed-and-breakfast for patients who use medical marijuana, spoke in support
of the ordinance. She claimed the regulation will dissipate fears of as
many as 4,000 medical marijuana users in Santa Cruz County who had long
sought clarification on the amount of marijuana they could legally possess.