ATTORNEY ADDRESSES LEGAL MARIJUANA

Stockton - Aaron Paradiso just wants his medical marijuana back and a
cannabis store opened in Stockton to end his Bay Area commute for the drug
that manages his pain and eases his muscle spasms.

Bill Pearce, a spokesman for the Valley Patient Alliance, wanted
information on the legality of medical marijuana as well as how to create a
marijuana cooperative, similar to a food cooperative, to work and share the
product.

And three San Joaquin County deputy district attorneys were present to
learn more about it.

They were all at the Maya Angelou Southeast Branch Library on Tuesday to
hear Joe Elford, a staff attorney with Americans for Safe Access, give a
legal seminar about the rights of medical marijuana users.

A majority of the talk centered on a new state law, SB420, as well as the
different legal interpretations of the issues. SB420 authorizes giving
people identification cards for medical marijuana use. It also grants
immunity from arrest and allows medical marijuana users to have up to six
mature cannabis plants, 12 immature plants or 8 ounces of dried cannabis
buds unless a doctor has authorized more.

Paradiso, 26, had marijuana cultivation and possession charges filed
against him in September before the new law took effect. He is paralyzed
from the shoulders down from a 1998 traffic accident.

San Joaquin County deputies say they seized 52 plants from his home last
year. That was much more than he needs, the authorities said.

Paradiso has said he has grown his own marijuana for three years and has a
medical permit to grow it under Proposition 215. His case is pending.

"Stockton should have a safe distribution mechanism," Paradiso said. "They
are going to prosecute medical cases and waste money and county resources."

But the interpretation of the law gets tricky when it comes to the creation
of cooperatives.

Co-ops are allowed, but how to distribute the drug legally is in question,
said Phil Urie, a San Joaquin County deputy district attorney who is
coordinating the medical cases for the county.

"If you go outside, you are outside the protection of the law," he said.

Urie's colleagues at the meeting were Dave Wellenbrock and Todd Turner.

"We want to know how people can stay within the law and still provide their
medicine," Pearce said.

Elford said the definition of membership in a co-op is not clearly defined,
such as how to count people's contribution to the cooperative in time,
money, or labor. But if a medical marijuana case is brought to court and
dismissed, Elford encouraged those involved to seek their property back as
well as monetary damages.