COMPASSION AND PROSECUTION

In early 2001, when Sonoma County juries voted to acquit two of
California's first medical marijuana cases after the passage of Prop. 215,
they sent a clear message that voters put "compassion" into the
Compassionate Use Act for a reason. They meant that patients and providers
should be left alone and that Sonoma County should have medically
appropriate guidelines. The current reasonable guidelines are now at risk.

The Foley-Hayes case packed courtrooms with patients from two counties and
San Francisco DA Terence Hallinan took the stand to defend a dispensary's
rural Sonoma garden. Alan MacFarlane waged a courtroom battle over how much
cannabis a patient could have when prosecutors charged him with intent to
sell because they thought he had too much. His case pitted federal
research, scientific studies and expert testimony against police
suspicions. The jury chose science and promptly acquitted.

The Art of Compromise

To his credit, then-DA Michael Mullins got the message. Patients and
caregivers had formed an advocacy group around the issue, the Sonoma
Alliance for Medical Marijuana. They carried the science to Mullins' office
and pointed out that the federal government gives patients about six pounds
of marijuana per year, and it takes about 200 square feet of garden area to
produce that much cannabis bud.

While recognizing the validity of the research, issues arose over the
uncertainty of yields and quality, various growing techniques and concerns
about diversion to the illicit market. The Appeals Court's Trippett set the
standard that a cannabis supply should be "reasonably related to the
patient's current medical need." Some safe harbor from arrest needed to be
agreed upon by law enforcement and the community. They compromised on three
pounds and 100 square feet.

Thus were born the Sonoma DA's medical marijuana guidelines, also known as
the SAMM guidelines that eventually took wing as Safe Access Now. They
stood the test of time in court. They are a point of local pride, and well
they should be. Variations of your county guidelines have been adopted in
Humboldt and Del Norte counties and are under consideration in San
Francisco and Santa Cruz.

The SB 420 Solution

When other counties continued zero tolerance, Senator John Vasconcellos
proposed a voluntary card system to protect patients. Among other things,
SB 420 legalized transportation and sales of medicine and recognized
designated caregiver status and patient collectives and cooperatives,
allowing cannabis dispensaries to operate legally in the state.

The governor insisted on guidelines, and Vasconcellos wrote the bill to
define medical marijuana as the female flower tops, while allowing cities
and counties to adopt more reasonable guidelines and physicians to specify
amounts, but the governor wanted details. Vasconcellos convened a task
force to determine a reasonable personal quantity and it agreed on six
pounds and 200 feet of garden. But a funny thing happened on the way to the
vote - numbers shifted. The Attorney General insisted on a change. Safe
harbor amounts were dropped to the lowest of any county, with the proviso
that counties could allow more but no less than eight ounces of bud and six
mature plants or 12 immature plants, roughly a one month supply for a daily
user in the federal program. The governor signed the bill into law.

Stay the Course

Vasconcellos took pains to protect the Sonoma and Humboldt guidelines, and
in January the Humboldt County supervisors convened another task force to
determine the most medically appropriate guidelines. After six months they
returned a verdict: Three pounds of marijuana and a garden up to 100 square
feet. Safe Access Now Guidelines were vindicated, and there is now an
ordinance before the Humboldt board to adopt the guidelines.

When he ran for office, Sonoma's current DA Stephan Passalacqua promised to
be more compassionate than his predecessor, but began prosecuting cases. We
hope that his recent decision to drop charges in several cases heralds a
return to his pledge. This is a critical time for our county to renew its
commitment to scientific and medically appropriate guidelines. Let us not
waiver in our commitment to compassionate care.