MEDICAL POT USER SAYS HE'S BEING UNFAIRLY SINGLED OUT

Voters' passage in 1996 of Proposition 215, California's medical marijuana
law, has left local agencies around the state, including some in Ventura
County, dealing with the vagaries of a measure that never spelled out how
much of it an individual may have.

The Legislature and the state Department of Justice have not addressed the
question either, so standards vary widely, from as many as 99 plants in some
counties to less than a half-dozen in others.

The case of a 33-year-old local man who was arrested in October has prompted
at least one local official to ask law enforcement agencies to consider
changing the limit.

Sheriff's deputies found 29 plants and about one pound of marijuana in Mike
Loftus' home. Ventura County's guideline, worked out by the District
Attorney's Office and local law enforcement agencies, is six mature plants
or one pound of processed marijuana. Loftus is charged with one count of
possession of marijuana for sale, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of
child endangerment. He is free on his own recognizance pending a hearing
March 5 in Ventura County Superior Court.

Loftus, a family man who lives in Newbury Park with his wife, Sandy, and
children, Cheyenne, 7, Broc, 5, and Amber, 1, pleaded his case before the
Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday. He uses marijuana to deal with
an inner-ear disease.

He spoke during the period the board sets aside for public comments. The
board listened to his statement without comment.

"There have been patients cultivating in Ventura County for seven years,"
Loftus said later Tuesday. "I feel like I'm being unfairly singled out and
harassed by the local authorities."

Board Chairman John Flynn has asked that agencies reconsider the local limit
and come to the board by April 1 with a report detailing the reasoning
behind it.

"Some people are trying to legalize marijuana, but that's not my point,"
Flynn said Wednesday. "If it truly helps people, they should be allowed to
medicate themselves with it, but it should be under workable standards that
everyone understands."

Flynn has complained about the local standard before, but his concerns were
raised most recently because of Loftus' case.

"There's confusion about the law, (and) the district attorney, sheriff and
the board need to sit down together (and) find some realistic standard,"
Flynn said. "After that, a meeting should be called of all those people who
use it for medicinal purposes and the rules and regulations need to be
explained."

Sheriff Bob Brooks said he and District Attorney Greg Totten, as elected
constitutional officers, have the final say. Brooks said the current allowed
amount is appropriate for medical marijuana users.

"We found our (limits) to be pretty much in the mainstream of the
jurisdictions that have established guidelines," Brooks said. "I can't say
what's going to be satisfactory to the supervisors, but from a law
enforcement perspective we think it is adequate."