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Proposition 215 slams into appeal process
Oakland Tribune, US Sunday 21 Dec 1997 medical marijuana law, those who use the drug to soothe their ailments are still caught in the smoky crossfire between hard-nosed prosecutors and unabashed pot advocates. Armed with a doctor's written permission to use marljuana, thousands of Bay Area residents with AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, arthritis and other painful diseases continue to toke up while the official sanctioning of voter-approved Proposition 215 wends its way through the courts and the state's local governing bodies. The battle tide turned again Dec.12 when the California 1st District Court of Appeal barred cannabis clubs from selling marijuana to patients because they do not meet the measure's criteria of a "primary care giver." The court's ruling on the thorny issue of distributing medical marijuana highlights. The haziness of Proposition 215, an initiative even the author now concedes was purposely vague. According to Presiding Justice J. Clinton Peterson, "If the drafters of the initiative wanted to legalize the sale of small amounts of marijuana for approved medical purposes, they could have easily done so. But like the 20 or so medical marijuana clubs that have been allowed to flourish since the passage of Proposition 215, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Co-operative will stay open while an appeal is pending. "Unless they come up with a better alternative I'm going to keep doing this until they put me in jail,"; said Jeff Jones, who oversees the distribution of up to five pounds of pot a week. Standing on the sidelines for no~w is the California Legislature, which typically passes "enabling" laws following the passage of ballot initiatives. Legislators have shown a reluctance to establish any statewide policies for enacting Proposition 215, leaving the task of interpreting the vague measure to politicians. Meanwhile, until stopped from doing otherwise, smokers like Max Gorgal will continue to seek relief where they can. The 55-year-old New York native who has had arthritis for 30 years, has found since arriving in the Bay Area in May that buying and smoking marijuana to ease his pain is much easier. "Every time I buy an ounce in New York, I wonder if I'm gonna be hauled off to Sing-Sing (prison)," Gorgal said while painting the interior of the San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club. "Here, it's fine." Similar sentiments were expressed by Frederick Demchuk, a 59-year-old father of six who suffers from chronic arthritis and prefers marijuana over Ibuprofen. Pot is a more effective killer and doesn't cause the sweating and jitteriness that popping four of the over-the counter pills at a time does, he said. "Whether you call it marijuana or medicine.. you know what's good for you." the San Jose technical writer said between quick tokes on a small blue bong at the San Francisco cannabis club. At the two extremes of the great marijuana debate are state Attorney General Dan Lungren', who casts himself as a law-and-order champion in fighting Proposition 215 tooth and nail, and San Francisco cannabis club owner Dennis Peron, who wrote the measure and has made it no secret he also favors the legalization of pot for everyone. Since campaigning for the initiative as a strictly compassionate way of helping desperately ill people, Peron now freely declares that "all use of marijuana is medical. . . . it cheers people up - that's a medical reason." As he sits at a desk strewn with several pipes and pot-stuffed plastic bags, the 51-year-old Peron - who cites alcoholism as his reason for smoking - said he intentionally made the proposition's language vague. "The sore losers said the people were tricked," Peron said. "But the marijuana laws are no more ambiguous now, and they're on the side of the people - especially sick people." Lungren acknowledges he is in the awkward position of enforcing a law he strongly opposed. In his interpretation, Pro. 215 allows someone who is sick to grow a couple of marijuana plants and gives researchers permission to study the drug's effectiveness. Nevertheless, he promises to continue trying to shut down Peron's marijuana club, over the objection of San Francisco's district attorney. "A major concern still is that It sends a bad message to kids," said Lungren's spokesman, Malt Ross. As the two rivals continue to duel each other in court - both also intend to run in the Republican primary for governor - county and federal attorneys throughout the state struggle to draw distinctions between respecting and abusing one's rights under Proposition 215. Unchartered territory Some counties, such as Contra Costa, have taken the hardened stance Lungren has. "This was a thinly disguised effort to legitimize the wholesale production and distribution of marijuana under the guise of helping sick people," Contra Costa District Attorney Gary Yancey said. "It's beyond me how anyone can Interpret this initiative as meaning you can sit around at some pot club and get zonked." City councils in Concord and Palo Alto have passed "urgency ordinances" to prevent any marijuana-dispensing establish-ments from opening in their communities. Where cannabis clubs do operate, their methods of distributing medical marijuana largely reflect the tolerance of the local elected officials who have allowed them. In San Mateo County, Board of Supervisors President Mike Nevin wants the county to run pharmacies that distribute to the sick marijuana confiscated by police. County law enforcement agencies plan to destroy $165,000 worth of marijuana being held in evidence. 'Proposition 215 didn't have a complete package to answer the question of distribution and cultivation," Nevin said. "There's a control problem. And since we haven't gotten a lot of leadership at a state level, local government is left to figure it out." Up north in the Humboldt County college town of Arcata, Police Chief Mel Brown personally approves identification cards - bearing the city seal - for eligible patients. "If somebody would've told me two years ago that I'd be giving out ID cards to carry marijuana, I'd said they were crazy," Brown said. "But life changes." Marin County's health and human services director, Thomas Peters, has proposed a county-wide verification system similar to Arcata's. "We're on unchartered and uneven terrain," he said. 'A pervasive uncertainty has been allowed to linger a full year after the passage of the proposition." The spirit of 215 In Oakland, police work closely with the founder of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Co-operative to develop guidelines. Inside a non-descript downtown office building, the club is taking on the role of a model pot-selling citizen. At the 1,400-member club, smoking is prohibited on the premises, patients must show a city-recognized ID card to three different people before buying pot, doctors' recommendations I are closely monitored, and the club pays sales taxes. "I think we're viewed a lot more legitimately in the community since (Proposition 215) passed," said club founder Jones, who makes a point of calling marijuana a "medicine." During the past year, the 23-year-old Jones has met regularly with the city's elected leaders and police officials to establish procedures that comply with both the new state law and a city ordinance authorizing the medical use of pot. "We're trying not to abuse the law because we don't want it changed," Jones said. The Oakland club obtains its pot from a variety of sources, including illegal dealers, for anywhere from $2 to $16 a gram, defending on the grade -- slightly cheaper than street value. But KJones said club members, who refine their growing technique at regular "cultivation" meetings, now supply about 60 percent of the marijuana. "We're aware of the spirit of 215," said Oakland police St. Pete Peterson. "We're trying to make it work." And though Proposition 215 allows the use of pot to relieve the pain and nausea of "seriously ill Californians," it also cites" any other Illness for which marijuana provides relief." Peron is trying to use that semantic opening to push the legalization of marijuana. Peron, whose club was raided and shut down for several months last year, disputes Lungren's charges that minors were allowed inside his club and that street dealers bought pot there to resell on the streets. Yet he is steadfast in operating the club under a loose interpretation of Proposition 215. To buy pot there, patients need only acquire a doctor's "letter of diagnosis"condition that marijuana can alleviate. And although it is filled with sick people, the club's atmosphere - pulsating music, nightly entertainment, social smoking - offers a glimpse of Amsterdam, where pot use is legal for everyone. After opening in 1992 with 75 percent of its members HIV positive, the San Francisco club now figures that the majority of its 8,000 members today have other maladies, including cancer, chronic pain, anxiety and hypertension. Gerhart Von Lotringen of Oakland said he recently started going to the Market Street center to "exercise my rights under Proposition 215." The 38-year-old epileptic, who has used marijuana since he was a teenager, noticed early he could often stave off a seizure if he"smoked a little bit." And though his neurologist would not recommend the drug, Von Lotringen asked the doctor for a simple letter of diagnosis. "I wanted to have it legally. . Apparently, it's taken care of," he said.
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