POT RULING TO HAVE LITTLE LOCAL IMPACT

Sonoma County Already Recognizes Rights Of Medical Marijuana Users

A state Supreme Court ruling hailed as a victory for medical marijuana
patients will have limited impact in Sonoma County, where local authorities
already recognize the right of such people to use the drug, officials and
advocates said.

And because it fails to address inconsistencies in how counties handle such
cases and has no bearing on federal authorities, who don't recognize any
medical right, it leaves unresolved two of the state law's major obstacles.

Thursday's unanimous ruling protecting patients from prosecution if they
have a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana will be felt most strongly
in conservative counties, where authorities still arrest and prosecute
patients with regularity, officials and advocates said.

Sonoma County no longer prosecutes individuals who appear to have a viable
medical claim. The turnabout came after acquittals in two high-profile
cases involving more than 100 plants, District Attorney Mike Mullins said.

Under subsequent countywide guidelines, patients with physician approval
may have up to 99 plants or 3 pounds of dried marijuana. In neighboring
Mendocino County, patients may have 25 plants or 2 pounds.

"This ruling backs up the admirable work that this county has already
done," said Mary Pat Jacobs, a spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Alliance
for Medical Marijuana. "Our district attorney and local law enforcement,
and the Sonoma County Peer Review: Congratulations to them for being ahead
of the curve here."

District Attorney-elect Stephan Passalacqua noted that the diabetic man
whose case prompted the state high court decision would never have been
tried here.

But the ruling would streamline any cases that do go to court, averting
trials by allowing judges to hear about medical need beforehand, Mullins said.

It also eases the burden on defendants, requiring they merely raise
reasonable doubt that the pot in their possession was not intended for
legitimate medical use.

Mendocino County District Attorney Norman Vroman said prosecutors also may
shy away from filing cases they might otherwise have pursued because the
shifting burden makes it harder to prove someone is growing large
quantities of pot under bogus medical claims.

"It doesn't give us as much as we asked for," said Alliance spokeswoman
Jacobs, who was among many advocates hoping for a stronger ruling barring
authorities from arresting and charging patients in the first place. "But
now it looks like they are starting to look toward the bar to prosecution."

The ruling arose from a 1997 case in which a blind and seriously ill
Tuolumne County diabetic named Myron Mower was tried for growing marijuana
that his physician recommended to control nausea and help maintain his weight.

While Tuolumne County policy would have allowed him three plants, Mower had
31, the court ruling says.

His attorneys appealed his conviction, claiming he was completely immune to
arrest and prosecution under the 1996 state initiative giving Californians
the right to use medicinal marijuana.

The California Supreme Court ruled that while he did not have complete
immunity, he did have the right to present his medical claim at a pretrial
hearing and seek a dismissal of charges.

The court also said that while authorities believed Mower was growing more
marijuana than was required to meet his medical needs, Mower need only
raise reasonable doubt about the truth of that assertion to go free.

The ruling moves patients beyond the point where they only were guaranteed
a right to raise a medical defense at trial. So "it is seen as progress,"
said another Alliance spokesman, Doc Knapp.

But it fails to address the larger problems associated with the
compassionate use law.

There are still no statewide guidelines governing its use. Attorney General
Bill Lockyer has refused to set limits on how much an individual or
caregiver may possess or grow for medical use, so there is no consistency
in how counties handle such cases.

In any case, patients in even the most permissive counties are still
subject to arrest and prosecution by federal authorities.

Federal prosecutors are mounting cases against two key members of the Aiko
Compassion Center in Santa Rosa, for instance. The West College Avenue
dispensary was closed after it was raided by federal authorities in late May.

"You're still taking your chances with the feds," Mullins said.

Jacobs said the Alliance recommends no one grow more than 99 plants because
of federal rules. Under federal law, anyone growing 100 plants or more can
be imprisoned for five to 10 years. With 99 plants or fewer, one may only
get probation, she said.

Overall, said Vroman, the ruling "is just a further step down the line to
totally legalizing it (marijuana), and I just wish they'd do it and get it
over with. It would save everybody a lot of trouble."