The San Francisco Examiner - Sunday, Aug. 24, 1997
Jim Herron Zamora of the Examiner Staff; Examiner correspondents Donna Horowitz and Eve Mitchell contributed to this report.

These are some of the myriad ways communities across the state are dealing with the passage of Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for medical use - but failed to outline how to regulate distribution of the drug.

Some communities - Berkeley and Oakland, for instance - have adopted a "hands-off" policy that generally discourages city interference in pot distribution.

Other cities, such as San Jose, are attempting to strictly regulate distribution. Still others - including Monterey, Concord and Palo Alto - have passed temporary moratoriums on the distribution of medical marijuana in the hopes that state legislators may pass laws that clarify how the drug can legally be distributed.

"There's a big segment of the criminal justice system that has to readjust their thinking to medical marijuana," said Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu, who oversees drug prosecutions. "We're getting educated."

Sinunu, a prosecutor for 12 years, said that after seeing a good friend use marijuana to ease the suffering of stomach cancer, she had become convinced that the drug should be legal for medical use.

"It's really difficult getting quality dope to people who need it," she said. "There's no such thing as FDA-approved dope, but there should be."

Few authorities argue that a sick person with a recommendation from a doctor is now allowed to grow, possess and use marijuana. But unless a patient has well-honed horticultural skills, the weed has to magically appear in their hands because the production and distribution of marijuana is still illegal.

"It's still against the law to sell marijuana, transport marijuana and grow large quantities," said Marin County Sheriff Bob Doyle. "Until there's something that clarifies the whole issue, I'm opposed to cannabis buyers clubs."

Fairfax is the only community in Marin where marijuana distribution is officially sanctioned by the local government. The Cannabis Buyers Club of Marin, which distributes marijuana to about 425 people, is run by the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a patient advocacy group.

Others have asked for approval to distribute medical marijuana there, but the Fairfax Town Council instituted a 45-day moratorium on new applications so planners could establish guidelines. The issue comes again before the council Sept. 2.

Fairfax Councilman Frank Egger said he hoped other cities in Marin would follow suit and establish their own clubs. "I would hope that there would be a dispensary in different parts of the county," said Egger. "It's the law of the state of California, even though the attorney general (Dan Lungren) doesn't want to accept it. It's the law, and we intend to implement it."

In Contra Costa County, no group has so far publicly sought legal permission to distribute marijuana. Several public officials there and elsewhere hope it stays that way - and not only because of the legal confusion surrounding the new law.

Some officials fear that clubs could become a magnet for nuisance and criminal activity. Even authorities in communities where the clubs are supported have those worries.

"We had a lot of concerns about nuisance issues," said Oakland police Lt. Pete Peterson of the Vice and Narcotics Section. "We don't want any smoking at the clubs or panhandling outside. We didn't want people hanging around there who shouldn't be there."

Nevertheless, marijuana "is a legal drug for those who need it. You cannot legally prohibit that," said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy think tank. "If (local governments) decide that they don't want a local supply, then that means they're implicitly or explicitly endorsing the transportation of medical marijuana."

Some communities are using zoning laws barring businesses from certain areas to restrict cannabis clubs. San Jose recently used a zoning law to shut down a pot club operating from a home.

In San Francisco, prosecutors have worked out protocols with the Department of Health for the safe distribution of marijuana. The City is home to the Cannabis Cultivators Club, whose leaders are still facing charges of selling marijuana after the club's Market Street office were busted by state agents last year several months before the passage of Prop. 215. That club has been criticized for its relaxed attitude about what constitutes a medical need.

Marijuana is still against federal law. Although the feds haven't started prosecuting small-scale users, they have waded into the medical pot controversy. Federal drug agents seized 331 plants at San Francisco's Flower Therapy Club in April, but no charges have been filed in that case, which remains under investigation. That club had worked with local prosecutors and health officials to avoid any problems, but that did not deter federal agents.

The risk of federal prosecution is a worry for those who provide pot to the sick.

"I never know if the federal government is going to come here," said Jeff Jones, director of the 1,200-member Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

Jones goes out of his way to be discreet. The offices of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative are on a busy street downtown, but there is no sign out front, and the group doesn't want its address to be published. Patients present photo membership cards at a pharmacy-style counter for their daily limit of one-quarter ounce.

"We're not trying to publicize ourselves," said Jones. "The people who need to know about us find out about us. We just don't want the pot smokers on the street to come down here. People who have HIV know about us. People who have cancer know about us."

After months of negotiations with local groups, Oakland adopted a hands-off policy that placed enforcement of marijuana laws as its lowest priority. The club is on good terms with Oakland police.

"They are interested in meeting us halfway," said Lt. Peterson. "We're putting trust in them that they are upholding their part of the bargain."

The club provides police with a 24-hour number to confirm that a person is a registered member.

In Santa Cruz County, the marijuana groups provide cards to users and certificates to growers for medicinal purposes. Valerie Corral has been growing marijuana for 20 years to treat her epilepsy and provide it to other sick people for free. After years of legal battles, she now has a good working relationship with local police.

"I think that the most important thing that we do is remember that we are taking a medicine and treat it with the respect of a medicine," said Corral, who heads the Wo / Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz. "That means we shouldn't be out on the street, puffing it and getting secondhand smoke on the face of people who don't want it."

Peter Baez, who dispenses marijuana from his San Jose club, which resembles a doctor's office, has a problem he never envisioned: "Police were telling me I had to grow my own pot."

Local authorities believe that the only legal way to obtain edical marijuana is grow your own, ideally at a facility zoned especially for that purpose, Sinunu said.

But South Bay authorities have waffled about whether Baez should grow marijuana on site or try to grow it elsewhere. Baez would prefer to grow it at a more secure warehouse.

"We believe in the idea of medical marijuana, and we're trying to make this work," Sinunu said. "But this is not easy. We're still learning as we go along."
970824
SE970805

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1997. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .