MEDICAL MARIJUANA: IS IT LEGAL OR NOT?

RON BROWNLOW of Roseville didn't make any secret of his medical
marijuana use when he flew from Sacramento to San Diego this month,
but his candor at the airports proved costly. He got busted.

Brownlow's legal predicament highlights the confusion -- make that the
mess -- that remains in California about medical marijuana and how
much legitimacy its patients really have.

This was supposed to be clarified this year, with the signing of a new
law by outgoing Gov. Gray Davis. The measure followed Proposition 215,
the groundbreaking initiative passed by voters in 1996 that allowed
medical use of marijuana. But upholding the law proved tricky as
jurisdictions enacted their own guidelines, and it ran afoul of
federal authorities.

The new law, which took effect in January, includes the creation of
state-issued identification cards for medical marijuana patients and
caregivers.

Those cards aren't out yet, but Brownlow, 48, a former welder with
debilitating back problems, figured he was good to go. He packed
carefully for his post-holiday trip to San Diego to visit his daughter
and grandson, bringing along his doctor's paperwork authorizing his
use of the drug, which he says he smokes three to four times daily.

As he tells the story, he volunteered all this Jan. 16 to a
Transportation Security Administration screener at Sacramento
International Airport. The worker summoned a supervisor and, after
some consultation, Brownlow was allowed to check his bag and board the
plane.

The return trip on Jan. 21 began similarly. At the San Diego airport,
he again identified himself as a medical marijuana patient to a TSA
security worker, who also summoned a supervisor. But this time, the
supervisor notified local authorities.

After being detained for about an hour by police, he was issued a
citation for misdemeanor possession. His medicine was
confiscated.

"They told me, 'We don't recognize the medical marijuana law in San
Diego,'" he said. "I started laughing. I couldn't believe it.

"How can a county not recognize a state law?"

Harbor Police Lt. Ken Franke confirmed the citation but said he was
not allowed to discuss any "legal interpretation" of the incident. He
referred all questions to the city attorney.

"It sounds like what the guy did with the best of conscience was to
try to be upfront," Franke said.

Maria Velasquez of the San Diego city attorney's office referred me
right back to the Harbor Police "regarding their policies." The case
has been filed with the court, she said.

"We'll handle it like any other case," she said. "We'll review the
case and give consideration to all of the circumstances, and that
would, of course, include the defendant's medical documentation."

Advocates of medical marijuana say Brownlow's troubles are typical of
what happened in the years following passage of Proposition 215. But
the new law, they say, should have set everyone straight.

"This is B.S.," said Dale Gieringer of California's National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and an original sponsor
of Prop. 215.

But other issues remain murky. Jeff Jones of the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers Collective said members are warned against taking medical
marijuana aboard planes or out of state, as they risk falling under
federal jurisdiction.

But whose?

TSA spokesman Brian Doyle said Friday that he's no lawyer, but "to the
best of our knowledge, if it's legal in California, you can travel
with it.

"Our job is to keep prohibited items off (airplanes), not illegal
items," he said, suggesting I check with the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

DEA spokeswoman Rogene Waite was curt: "Marijuana is illegal in the
United States."

But what about airplanes flying within California?

"It's in the United States, isn't it?" she snapped, saying to check
with the TSA -- which, of course, had already said the legality of
medical marijuana was not its concern.

All Brownlow knows is that he's got a March 3 court date in San
Diego.

"I'm not a drug dealer or nothing," he said. "I'm just an average Joe
who has a medical problem."

And now, it appears, a legal one, too.