Searching for Common Ground on Medical Pot Guidelines

The district attorney has implemented a drastic increase for the
number of marijuana plants allowable for medical patients. After
hearing strongly felt testimony from many people pro and con over the
expanded limits, the Board of Supervisors has appointed a task force
to grapple further with the issue.

Roger Rodoni, who supports the new guidelines, put it aptly: "This is
not a hill any politician wants to die on." But it's not just a
politician's reluctance to displease anyone that makes this matter so
contentious. Medical marijuana is a groundbreaking idea with some
genuine problems that must be addressed. The new limits highlight
these problems.

Marijuana's popularity as an illegal, recreational drug is widespread
and spans socio-economic classes. In some sectors, its use amounts to
an underground culture that persists despite all governmental efforts
to stamp it out. Now here comes Proposition 215, and suddenly reefer
is an herb prized for its medicinal qualities. The state of
California, according to the mandate of its voters, is attempting to
control marijuana in the same way all prescription drugs are
controlled. It does this in contradiction to federal law.

Many people, including myself, believe pot should be legal. However,
it's not. We must be careful not to construe medical marijuana as a
backdoor to acceptance of marijuana in general. This attitude may
blind us to the concerns of law enforcement and other community members.

Growing pot is a lucrative business because of its illegality. As such
it attracts people who won't stop at violence. Pot deals gone bad
account for seven homicides committed in Humboldt County last year.
These deaths send out waves of loss and trauma that haunt the
survivors for the rest of their lives. Plus, the paranoia, distrust
and secrecy of pot growing can mar the lives of many innocent people.

If anyone who wanted to could grow a few plants, its monetary value
would plummet. The black-market, underworld element of marijuana would
disappear, and many of the big growers would go out of business.
However, since it is illegal, this context makes grow operations of 99
plants susceptible to the wrong kind of attention, whether or not
they're endorsed for medical purposes.

The only difference between these legal operations and illegal
operations is that the growers can complain to the police if they're
ripped off. Like the marijuana club in Arcata did. This is not
something the police are really happy about. The added risk of
violence is not one they relish either.

Are 99 plants necessary to produce enough herb for a seriously ill
person? Perhaps someone who is going about it all wrong might need 99
baby plants to experiment on. Otherwise, anyone who is growing a
personal supply should be content with a much smaller number. Several
215 card holders have told me they were shocked by the generous increase.

In his zeal to focus on serious crime instead of pot busts, Mr.
Gallegos may have gone too far. Perhaps he was following the lead of
other counties that have adopted identical guidelines. This apparent
inattention to a legitimate concern may account for much of the
antagonism between him and the police. However, those who support
recalling him because of his stance on medical marijuana should think
twice. The competence and integrity of our new DA make him a valuable
public servant.

I hope the task force will be able to objectively look at the issues
-- not all of which I've mentioned -- instead of forming simple pro
and anti sides that attack each other. We may never agree, but we can
disagree without demonizing each other. We can negotiate and
compromise. There appears to be a lot of middle ground between six and
99.