COUNTY TO CITY: NO MARIJUANA USE

SAN DIEGO --County supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to ask the San Diego City
Council to reject a proposal that would allow medical marijuana users to
have up to three pounds of the illegal drug at a time.

Opponents, including members of the city's Cannabis Task Force, decried the
supervisors' vote, saying the information presented by supervisors was
inaccurate and misleading.

"The supervisors are grandstanding and they certainly ought to have more
information and accurate information about the work we are doing before they
take a position on this," said Dale Kelly Bankhead, a task force member.

"The supervisors didn't take the time to read the (medicinal marijuana)
guidelines we've drafted and to get a real understanding of the work we've
done."

The supervisors' vote is the latest step in the struggle between federal,
state and local governments to come to terms with the idea of using the
plant for medicinal use.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which allows the
medical use of marijuana. Since then, the federal government continues to
prosecute people who grow or distribute marijuana for medical purposes, and
state and local governments have struggled with how to define medical use
and how distribution of the drug should occur.

The city of San Diego is trying to decide how to regulate the cultivation
and distribution of marijuana to residents who have a doctor's permission to
use the drug. While a city committee will give the task force proposal an
airing in a few weeks, the full City Council would have to give final
approval to any action.

Opponents say the regulations will allow people to possess three pounds of
marijuana per year, and to grow up to 90 plants. That amount, up to 2,600
marijuana cigarettes worth, will lead to distribution for recreational use
and abuse of the drug, they say.

"Unfortunately, what it appears as though the city of San Diego will be
considering does not have anything to do with compassionate care for the
suffering," said Jay Goldby, a Poway City Council member and representative
of the San Diego Prevention Coalition.

"Rather, it appears to be the first wave in the legalization of illegal
substances, starting with marijuana," he said, adding that three pounds
"goes way beyond compassionate care."

But supporters and task force members say that misstates the regulations.

"People would be allowed to possess as much as their doctors prescribe, up
to three pounds a year," said Steve McWilliams, a task force member and
self-described medical marijuana activist. "They can grow plants in an area
of up to 100 square feet, in a locked enclosure -- that's not the same as
going into business."

Opponents to the proposed city regulations say the effect of the city's
rules will be felt throughout the county.

"We appreciate the board of supervisors considering this issue since it will
have countywide effects," said Diane Grace, of the North Coast PTA.
"Children between the ages of 12 and 17 who use marijuana are seven times
more likely to steal and four times more likely to engage in violence than
those who don't."

Heated comments from a couple dozen speakers, ranging from North County
Serenity House staff to the doctor who heads several AIDS assistance
programs in the county, illustrated the deeply divided opinions of people at
the meeting.

But, after struggling with the question of whether or not the board should
wait for more information, the board voted to let the mayor and City Council
know of its opposition.

"The county of San Diego does not have jurisdiction over the city of San
Diego or the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee," Supervisor
Pam Slater noted. "What the board of supervisors does is sit here and
express the opinion of the majority of the board.

"In 10 years (on the board), my experience is that our opinion has zero
effect on the city," she added.