CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS STAND UP FOR MEDICAL POT

Some California lawmakers seem to be getting fed up with the federal
government continuing to ignore the state's medical marijuana law.

This past week U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, announced a bill intended
to keep legitimate medical pot growers and users in California out of
federal prison.

The language of the bill hasn't been finalized, but generally anyone
charged with growing, transporting or distributing marijuana in
California or seven other states which have legalized medical pot
could be acquitted by proving the marijuana would be used as medicine.
That bill follows the efforts of Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, who for
several years has tried unsuccessfully to get a similar bill heard in
the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.

North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, co-sponsored
Frank's bill. Thompson could not be reached directly last week for
comment on the Farr bill. In an e-mail statement released by staff,
Thompson said he will support Frank's bill when it is reintroduced,
and supports Farr's efforts as well.

"I am supportive of efforts to allow states that have legalized
marijuana for medicinal purposes to implement their own laws without
federal intrusion," Thompson said. "I commend him for wanting to
introduce a bill that respects the laws states have made for their own
people and hope that this bill is a compromise that the Republican
leadership can move forward."

Also, at least 50 lawmakers in the state Legislature this week signed
a letter urging the California Congressional Delegation to secure
states' rights to regulate and oversee the use and cultivation of
medical cannabis, amend the federal Controlled Substances Act to allow
a medical necessity defense, and cut federal departments which use
money to harass and prosecute Californians who comply with the state's
law.

The letter came in the wake of the recent conviction of Ed Rosenthal,
the self-proclaimed "Guru of Ganja." Rosenthal's defense that he was
growing medical pot for the city of Oakland was not allowed into
testimony by the judge hearing the case. After Rosenthal's conviction,
several members of the jury publicly apologized, saying they would
have acquitted Rosenthal if they had been allowed to review that evidence.

California voters in 1996 passed Proposition 215, which allows people
to legally use marijuana as long as they have a doctor's prescription.
Six other states have passed similar laws, but the federal government
has refused to recognize the legality of medical pot. The U.S. Supreme
Court has supported the federal government, ruling that existing law
bans all use of the drug.

Humboldt County, one of the state's most well-known
marijuana-producing areas, has also been a constant battleground
between state and federal law. About 250 people currently have 215
cards issued by the county Public Health branch.

Two years ago, then-Sheriff Dennis Lewis refused to give 1 ounce of
pot back to a medical marijuana patient after the pot was seized by
deputies in a routine traffic stop. A Superior Court judge found Lewis
in contempt for his refusal, but Lewis appealed to the federal Drug
Enforcement Agency, which eventually took the pot off his hands and
destroyed it.

District Attorney Paul Gallegos recently introduced new prosecution
guidelines, which allow 215 patients to possess 3 pounds of processed
marijuana per year. Gallegos also allows them to have up to 99 plants,
but growers say that in practice that number is actually much lower
because the mature plants must fit within a 100-square-foot area,
indoors or outdoors.