GALLEGOS SAYS MEDICAL POT POLICY IN EFFECT

EUREKA -- Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said this week
he's moving ahead with his new medical marijuana prosecution guidelines,
even without full support from area law enforcement.

The district attorney declined to say which law enforcement agencies are
still having trouble supporting his policy. These holdouts asked to hold
off until further discussions can be held in March. Gallegos said he will
meet with those agencies, but added that his office is moving forward.

"... We're operating under the assumption that it is policy," Gallegos said
this week, adding that he's anxious to get the guidelines in place so he
can move on to other items on his agenda.

Under the guidelines, Gallegos will not file charges in cases involving
people who have a doctor's recommendation for use of the drug and who
possess no more than 3 pounds of processed marijuana per year.

Medical marijuana patients, who are issued cards from the county's Public
Health branch, technically will be allowed to grow as much as 99 plants.
But the plants must fit within a 100-square-foot area measured by the
vegetative canopy of the plants. In other words, the larger the plants, the
fewer will be able to fit within the allowable square footage. For example,
14 plants with a 3-foot canopy area each will amount to a cultivation area
of 100 square feet. The same rules apply for indoor growers, with the added
restriction of 1.5 kilowatts or less for artificial lighting.

Gallegos said these limits are intended to keep some control over how much
the plants yield come harvest time. Without such controls, the district
attorney said growers will end up with excessive amounts, which he's afraid
could end up on the market, which is illegal.

Proposition 215, the California law that allows prescribed patients to grow
and use marijuana, has been described by some as poorly written. For
instance, patients can get by with just an oral recommendation by a
physician. The law also says little on whether users can carry pot in their
car or whether patient's caregivers can possess the drug.

Since the passage of Prop. 215 in the late 1990s, California law
enforcement agencies have been divided. Some have refused to recognize the
law because federal law bans any use of medical marijuana.

Sheriff Gary Philp has indicated he'll support the new guidelines, as has
the Arcata Police Department. But the Eureka and Fortuna police departments
have said they intend to observe federal law, in part because the
departments fear losing federal funding.

To that end, prescribed patients could still be arrested and their pot
confiscated. Even if Gallegos doesn't prosecute them, police agencies who
oppose the new policy still may not give the confiscated pot back.

Fortuna Chief Kent Bradshaw and Eureka Chief David Douglas are out of their
offices this week and could not be reached for comment.

Gallegos conceded that those who properly follow his guidelines may not be
able to avoid arrest. He encouraged patients to always carry documentation,
and post supporting documentation at cultivation sites.