REGION: Raided smoke shops back in business

It's still easy to buy pipes, bongs in North County


By SARAH GORDON
sgordon@...
Posted: Saturday, November 21, 2009 4:15 pm



Last December, dozens of police and deputies raided 11 North County head
shops and smoke shops, seizing thousands of smoking devices and citing
the clerks who sold them for allegedly furnishing drug paraphernalia.

At that time, law enforcement leaders and mayors from Vista, Escondido
and San Marcos said the crackdown signaled the region's refusal to
continue pretending that pipes and bongs, which are commonly used for
smoking pot, were for legal tobacco use.

A year later, it's still easy to buy a bong in North County, and many of
the raided shops are operating much as they were.

Deputy District Attorney Damon Mosler, chief of narcotics prosecutions
at the time of the raids, acknowledged the operation was a limited
success. He said they did remove some pipes and bongs from shelves and
forced at least one Vista shop to close. And shopkeepers who sell the
devices know they do so at their peril, with raids and arrests possible
at any time.

But it remains unclear whether prosecutors can prove that selling pipes
and bongs is a crime, or if raiding and citing shops that sell them is
legal. A North County judge ruled that some search warrants filed in the
operation failed to establish that a crime was occurring at the shops.
He ordered thousands of seized devices returned.

And it is uncertain whether more raids are planned. Mosler is no longer
with the DA's narcotics unit, and a deputy district attorney with the
unit who handled many of the North County prosecutions, David McNees,
said the unit has, for now, shifted its attention to medical marijuana
dispensaries.

The crackdown

In December 2008, after consulting with prevention groups and police,
Mosler said he became convinced the shops were, in fact, breaking the
law.

To avoid trouble, they post signs declaring the merchandise is for
smoking tobacco, and clerks are usually well-trained to eject anyone who
talks about pot in the shops, he said. But the stores often have names
that reference the drug culture, and they sometimes sell T-shirts,
magazines or posters celebrating marijuana. Those things are legal, but
they show the pipes are intended for drug use, Mosler said.

And, Mosler said, there was wide community support for trying to rein in
the stores.

In last year's operation, the DA's office sent letters to 20 shops in
Escondido, San Marcos, and Vista warning them they were subject to
prosecution if they continued selling drug paraphernalia.

An undercover detective from the Narcotics Task Force later entered the
shops, Mosler said. Nine shops, mostly mom-and-pop tobacco shops that
had stocked a few incidental marijuana pipes, had complied.

But search warrants subsequently were served at seven shops in
Escondido, two in Vista and two in San Marcos, and 11 clerks were cited
after they sold pipes to the undercover detective, the prosecutor said.

Mosler said he could not quantify the cost of the raids, but he called
them relatively small-scale. Two detectives visited the shops, and
several dozen deputies or officers and some non-sworn personnel worked
in Vista, Escondido and San Marcos over two days, according to
participating agencies. Officers served search warrants, cited clerks
and spent about a half-day at each shop packaging and seizing products.

Mosler said that overall, he thought the raids and prosecutions were
worthwhile.

He pointed to the tobacco shops that stopped selling marijuana pipes
after a warning. One Vista shop, Odyssey Smoke Shop, shut its doors
after its merchandise was seized and has not reopened.

Mosler said getting businesses to change requires ongoing enforcement.
He said more smoke shop citations and raids could happen if law
enforcement and city leaders make that a priority.

Escondido Special Investigations Unit Lt. Craig Carter said nine local
shops are facing another enforcement action. He said the shops are
operating illegally and have been warned to expect police.

Vista sheriff's Capt. Tim Curran and Sgt. Dave Schaller, with the San
Marcos sheriff's community-oriented policing team, said there are no
plans for more operations in their cities.

Curran said he believed Vista currently has no retail head shops.

Searches illegal

Any future operations would have to be more thorough, Mosler
acknowledged. He said mistakes in detective work and the search warrants
he signed helped some shops reopen.

And it is still not clear whether the shops are breaking the law. None
of last year's cases went before a jury.

In March, a North County judge ruled that about 4,000 seized items must
be returned to the owners of Escondido's Smokin' Glass store on Felicita
Road, and Vishions on El Norte Parkway, after Attorney Richard Barnett
successfully argued the search warrants and seizures were illegal.

The judge ruled that the items had been improperly seized, and that the
search warrant affidavits in the operation had not established probable
cause to believe a crime was occurring in the shops, court documents
show.

In a court motion, Barnett argued that the search warrants served at
head shops across North County shared a weak, boilerplate explanation
that the stores sold items that could be used to smoke marijuana.

"But selling paraphernalia that could be used to smoke marijuana is not
a crime under California law," he said.

An undercover detective purchased pipes at the shops, but he and the
clerks never talked about marijuana, Barnett said.

Without that discussion, or other evidence, there was not cause to
believe the clerk should have known the pipes would be used for drugs,
rather than smoking tobacco, the motion argued.

Barnett also said there was no evidence in the search warrant that the
stores' stock was illegal drug paraphernalia, subject to seizure.

The state's Health and Safety code defines drug paraphernalia as
products, designed or marketed for drug use, he said.

The shops, he argued, market the pipes for tobacco use.

Proving the charges

Mosler said prosecutors have learned their lesson. In the future, he
said, detectives must gather more evidence to demonstrate that the
clerks and the shops know they are selling the devices for marijuana
use. Such evidence can come from "experts," who testify about the shops'
real purpose, the shop names and ancillary products that reference
marijuana, he said.

A jury has never weighed in on any of the cases resulting from last
year's raids in the North County, East County and South Bay, Mosler
said.

Nine of the 11 North County clerks cited for furnishing drug
paraphernalia settled their cases with the district attorney's office,
agreeing to probation or drug classes, mostly in return for expunged
charges. One clerk never showed up to court; a bench warrant for his
arrest was issued.

Attorney Isaac Blumberg represented two clerks cited in last year's
operation. They agreed to plead guilty to disturbing the peace and
received a sentence of probation. Blumberg said he's not sure a
prosecutor could have proven those clerks were knowingly furnishing drug
paraphernalia.

"I think we could have gone forward to a jury trial and forced this
issue," he said.

It appears one person may be doing that.

Frederick Danielsen, 47, was charged with furnishing drug paraphernalia
at the now-closed Odyssey Smoke Shop on East Vista Way in Vista.

Neither Danielsen nor his lawyer could be reached for this story.

Court records show Danielsen is scheduled for a jury trial Dec. 7.

---
Call staff writer Sarah Gordon at 760-740-3517.


http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_53b99192-5206-5a7d-93\
39-0289e9225472.html


Brett adds - See the original story from after the raids posted on
12/19/08 at - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/mmjnews/message/3459

Medical Marijuana: No Longer Just for Adults


By KATHERINE ELLISON
November 22, 2009



At the Peace in Medicine Healing Center in Sebastopol, the wares on
display include dried marijuana — featuring brands like Kryptonite,
Voodoo Daddy and Train Wreck — and medicinal cookies arrayed below a
sign saying, "Keep Out of Reach of Your Mother."

The warning tells a story of its own: some of the center's clients
are too young to buy themselves a beer.

Several Bay Area doctors who recommend medical marijuana for their
patients said in recent interviews that their client base had expanded
to include teenagers with psychiatric conditions including
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"It's not everybody's medicine, but for some, it can make a
profound difference," said Valerie Corral, a founder of the
Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a patients' collective
in Santa Cruz that has two dozen minors as registered clients.

Because California does not require doctors to report cases involving
medical marijuana, no reliable data exist for how many minors have been
authorized to receive it. But Dr. Jean Talleyrand, who founded MediCann,
a network in Oakland of 20 clinics who authorize patients to use the
drug, said his staff members had treated as many as 50 patients ages 14
to 18 who had A.D.H.D. Bay Area doctors have been at the forefront of
the fierce debate about medical marijuana, winning tolerance for people
with grave illnesses like terminal cancer and AIDS. Yet as these doctors
use their discretion more liberally, such support — even here —
may be harder to muster, especially when it comes to using marijuana to
treat adolescents with A.D.H.D.

"How many ways can one say `one of the worst ideas of all
time?' " asked Stephen Hinshaw, the chairman of the psychology
department at the University of California, Berkeley. He cited studies
showing that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in
cannabis, disrupts attention, memory and concentration — functions
already compromised in people with the attention-deficit disorder.

Advocates are just as adamant, though they are in a distinct minority.
"It's safer than aspirin," Dr. Talleyrand said. He and other
marijuana advocates maintain that it is also safer than methylphenidate
(Ritalin), the stimulant prescription drug most often used to treat
A.D.H.D. That drug has documented potential side effects including
insomnia, depression, facial tics and stunted growth.

In 1996, voters approved a ballot proposition making California the
first state to legalize medical marijuana. Twelve other states have
followed suit — allowing cannabis for several specified, serious
conditions including cancer and AIDS — but only California adds the
grab-bag phrase "for any other illness for which marijuana provides
relief."

This has left those doctors willing to "recommend" cannabis
— in the Alice-in-Wonderland world of medical marijuana, they cannot
legally prescribe it — with leeway that some use to a daring degree.
"You can get it for a backache," said Keith Stroup, the founder
of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Nonetheless, expanding its use among young people is controversial even
among doctors who authorize medical marijuana.

Gene Schoenfeld, a doctor in Sausalito, said, "I wouldn't do it
for anyone under 21, unless they have a life-threatening problem such as
cancer or AIDS."

Dr. Schoenfeld added, "It's detrimental to adolescents who
chronically use it, and if it's being used medically, that implies
chronic use."

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
said she was particularly worried about the risk of dependency — a
risk she said was already high among adolescents and people with
attention-deficit disorder.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, however, patients and doctors have been
reporting that marijuana helps alleviate some of the symptoms,
particularly the anxiety and anger that so often accompany A.D.H.D. The
disorder has been diagnosed in more than 4.5 million children in the
United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Researchers have linked the use of marijuana by adolescents to increased
risk of psychosis and schizophrenia for people genetically predisposed
to those illnesses. However, one 2008 report in the journal
Schizophrenia Research suggested that the incidence of mental health
problems among adolescents with the disorder who used marijuana was
lower than that of nonusers.

Marijuana is "a godsend" for some people with A.D.H.D., said Dr.
Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist who has written several books on the
disorder. However, Dr. Hallowell said he discourages his patients from
using it, both because it is — mostly — illegal, and because his
observations show that "it can lead to a syndrome in which all the
person wants to do all day is get stoned, and they do nothing else."

Until the age of 18, patients requesting medical marijuana must be
accompanied to the doctor's appointment and to the dispensaries by a
parent or authorized caregiver. Some doctors interviewed said they
suspected that in at least some cases, parents were accompanying their
children primarily with the hope that medical authorization would allow
the adolescents to avoid buying drugs on the street.

A recent University of Michigan study found that more than 40 percent of
high school students had tried marijuana.

"I don't have a problem with that, as long as we can have our
medical conversation," Dr. Talleyrand said, adding that patients
must have medical records to be seen by his doctors.

The Medical Board of California began investigating Dr. Talleyrand in
the spring, said a board spokeswoman, Candis Cohen, after a KGO-TV
report detailed questionable practices at MediCann clinics, which, the
report said, had grossed at least $10 million in five years.

Dr. Talleyrand and his staff members are not alone in being willing to
recommend marijuana for minors. In Berkeley, Dr. Frank Lucido said he
was questioned by the medical board but ultimately not disciplined after
he authorized marijuana for a 16-year-old boy with A.D.H.D. who had
tried Ritalin unsuccessfully and was racking up a record of minor
arrests.

Within a year of the new treatment, he said, the boy was getting better
grades and was even elected president of his special-education class.
"He was telling his mother: `My brain works. I can think,'
" Dr. Lucido said.

"With any medication, you weigh the benefits against the risks,"
he added.

Even so, MediCann patients who receive the authorization must sign a
form listing possible downsides of marijuana use, including "mental
slowness," memory problems, nervousness, confusion, "increased
talkativeness," rapid heartbeat, difficulty in completing complex
tasks and hunger. "Some patients can become dependent on
marijuana," the form also warns.

The White House's recent signals of more federal tolerance for state
medical marijuana laws — which pointedly excluded sales to minors
— reignited the debate over medical marijuana.

Some advocates, like Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor
emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard University, suggest that medical
marijuana's stigma has less to do with questions of clinical
efficacy and more to do with its association, in popular culture, with
illicit pleasure and addiction.

Others, like Alberto Torrico of Fremont, the majority leader of the
California Assembly, argue for more oversight in general. "The
marijuana is a lot more powerful these days than when we were growing
up, and too much is being dispensed for nonmedical reasons," he said
in an interview last week, bluntly adding, "Any children being given
medical marijuana is unacceptable."

As advocates of increased acceptance try to win support, they may find
their serious arguments compromised by the dispensaries' playful
atmosphere.

OrganiCann, a dispensary in Santa Rosa, has a Web site advertisement
listing the "medible of the week" — butterscotch rock candy
— invitingly photographed in a gift box with a ribbon. OrganiCann
also offers a 10 percent discount, every Friday, for customers with a
valid student ID.

---
A version of this article appeared in print on November 22, 2009, on
page A39A of the New York edition.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/health/22sfmedical.html?_r=1

Trial begins for manager of pot dispensary


By Dana Littlefield
Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 1:46 a.m.



SAN DIEGO COURTS — In June of last year, an undercover detective
entered a Kearny Mesa office suite looking to buy marijuana from a
dispensary that purported to distribute it for medicinal purposes.

He spoke to a man inside the building, handed him $100 and came out with
an eighth of an ounce. Mission accomplished.

But prosecutors say that instead of providing a therapeutic service to
patients who needed it, the dispensary's operators —
specifically its manager, Jovan Jackson — sold drugs for profit, a
violation of California's medical marijuana law.

Jackson, 31-year-old Navy veteran, is on trial in San Diego Superior
Court facing several counts related to the possession and sale of
marijuana. He is also accused of possessing the drug ecstasy.

If convicted, Jackson could be sent to prison for more than five years.

His lawyer contends that the dispensary, called Answerdam Alternative
Care Collective, operated legally and that the detective used false
information to acquire the marijuana. People who came to the collective
were required to provide a doctor's recommendation and sign a
membership agreement.

On the first day of trial yesterday, ο»ΏSan Diego police Detective
Mark Carlson testified that he had received complaints about "a
marijuana store" on Convoy Court. Carlson said he conducted
surveillance in the area and found a Web site titled Answerdam Rx. The
site was registered to Jackson.

Another detective, Scott Henderson, conducted two undercover buys at the
Answerdam collective. He testified that he bought $80 worth of marijuana
and paid a $20 membership fee on June 12, 2008. He bought about a
half-ounce during a second visit on July 24, 2008.

During the first visit, he provided a doctor's recommendation and
signed a membership agreement with a false name.

In August 2008, authorities served a search warrant on the building and
found several large and small bags of marijuana, some of which were
labeled with prices ranging from $50 to $80, according to the testimony.

In a nearby office, authorities found more than 1,600 forms containing
member information, digital scales and receipts for cashier's checks
— one of which was made out for $100,000 — containing
Jackson's name.

Many of the lawyers' questions yesterday centered on whether the
marijuana distributed at Answerdam was "collectively grown" by
the group's members for medical purposes, which is allowed by state
law.

"What part did you play in collectively growing that marijuana?"
asked Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg.

"No role whatsoever," Henderson said.

But defense lawyer K. Lance Rogers indicated during cross-examination
that member fees could be used to aid cultivation. Rogers has said he
plans to call San Diego County Deputy District Attorney James Pitts to
testify later in the trial. Pitts has said in court that he is a member
of the Answerdam collective.

Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled earlier this week that Pitts' identity
could be released to the public, but would not be provided to the jury.


Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@...


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/21/trial-begins-manager-mari\
juana-dispensary/

The AMA's reversal on marijuana

The physicians' group wants more research into the drug's medicinal
uses, but it's being cautious in its approach.


November 21, 2009


For all the debate over whether marijuana has medicinal value, arguments
that the drug has significant palliative properties or that it has none
suffer from the same flaw: There's little scientific proof either way.

This lack of conclusive evidence isn't accidental. In 1970, Congress
passed the Controlled Substances Act, classifying marijuana -- which had
been illegal since 1937 -- as a Schedule I drug, which meant that it had
a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. In keeping with this
position, the government has allowed only the University of Mississippi
to cultivate research-grade marijuana, and has so restricted access to
its small supply that determining the drug's efficacy is for all intents
and purposes impossible.

So patients' advocates celebrated last week when the nation's largest
physicians organization, the American Medical Assn., recommended that
marijuana's schedule classification be reviewed for the purpose of
facilitating research and the "development of cannabinoid-based
medicines." It was indeed good news.

But hold the brownies. Although the AMA reversed a long-held position,
it also issued a series of caveats: The change does not mean the
organization supports state-sanctioned medical marijuana programs. It
should not suggest that cannabis meets the standard set for prescription
drugs. Nor is this an indication that the organization advocates
legalization. Moreover, it has specifically rejected language calling
for marijuana to be rescheduled.

That medical marijuana is becoming more acceptable to the mainstream is
undeniable -- 13 states now permit its use -- but ideally, major
healthcare policy shouldn't be enacted by popular opinion. In that
light, the AMA's recommendation is all the more powerful for its
restraint.

In 1913, California became the first state to outlaw marijuana, and in
1996, it became the first to approve it for medical use. We have been
supportive of the California Compassionate Use Act, but we have been
equally vocal about the need for research. Small studies suggest that
cannabis relieves nerve pain in HIV patients, mitigates migraine
headaches, reduces ocular hypertension in glaucoma patients and is
effective against various forms of severe, chronic pain. The states that
have legalized the drug's use for medicinal purposes have done so on the
basis of a small body of research and a large amount of anecdotal
evidence, but more facts are needed. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration should heed the doctors' orders on this matter and open
the way to scientific investigation.


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-ama21-2009nov21,0,406900.story

City rules bring medical pot into the mainstream


Posted November 21, 2009 at midnight



Our view: On one front, the drug war is becoming a zoning dispute.

A cultural earthquake doesn't rumble like the Big One, but it's easy to
recognize the aftershocks.

What are the signs?

How about a medical marijuana defense lawyer from liberal, pot-friendly
Oakland expressing his "sincere gratitude" to the conservative city of
Redding for its thoughtful new ordinance?

How about the police chief of that same conservative city likening
marijuana co-ops - which until this year barely dared operate openly -
to pawn shops or card rooms?

Some critics among medical marijuana users and advocates knock the
city's newly approved regulations, quibbling with the details. They're
too restrictive as to location. They don't allow the sale of young
starter plants or "clones." They're too intrusive, violating patients'
right to privacy.

While arguing over the trees, it's easy to miss the fact that we've
wandered into an entirely new forest.

James M. Silva, the Oakland lawyer, drew the key distinction while
speaking to the council Tuesday night. He was "encouraged," he said,
that the city's approach to medical marijuana focused on regulation
instead of enforcement.

In other words, the city's thinking about zoning codes instead of
criminal crackdowns. On at least one front, the war on drugs has been
reduced to an argument over planning, as normal as a neighborhood
dispute over the height of a fence or a barking dog.

At the same meeting, Redding police Chief Peter Hansen echoed the
sentiment in his own way. Faced with complaints that the local head of
law enforcement was the wrong person to be in charge of licensing
co-ops, Hansen replied that, first of all, the Police Department had
built up a lot of experience about just what is legal when it comes to
medical marijuana. He added that the department had fine working
relationships with local pawn brokers and the poker club - legal
businesses that can touch the margins of the criminal world - and he
didn't see much difference with a medical marijuana collective.

It's been 13 years since Californians voted to allow the medicinal use
of marijuana, and we're still sorting out just how to live with it.

More and more, though, it just looks ... ordinary. And that's the most
extraordinary change of all.


http://www.redding.com/news/2009/nov/21/city-rules-bring-medical-pot-int\
o-the-mainstream/

Craig's trial is scheduled to begin on Monday Nov. 23 at the LAX Airport
Branch of The Superior Court, 11701 South LaCienega, LA, 90045, div. 146
at 8:30 AM. Any court support would be welcome.

At Craig's preliminary trial the judge stated that Craig has violated
his current probation and has also scheduled a probation hearing for
Monday as well as his second arraignment. It is the probation violation
that may cause Craig to be taken into custody for 5 years on Monday
morning.

Peace

brett

ps- Sunday is Craig's birthday.


Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate Facing Years in Prison as City Attorney
Wastes Millions


Fri, 20 Nov 2009, 18:38:37 EST
Edited by Carly Zander



LOS ANGELES, Calif., Nov. 20 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Craig X Rubin
faces years in prison and another trial at the taxpayers expense, as
cannabis is something most Californians think should be legal. Recent
polls show that 74 percent of residents in California favor taxing and
regulating the herb, as opposed to prosecuting offenders. Most Americans
know Craig from his stint on Showtime's "Weeds," or one of the many
films he's been in, from Super High Me to Totally Baked; but they might
soon know him by his prisoner number, as he is facing five years in
prison in just a few days.

Rubin is a proponent of pot, having contributed to the final wording of
Proposition 215; this real life pastor and college teacher is a graduate
of UCLA. He is a full-time pastor at the Family Church in Pasadena and
teaches a course to students at the Union Bible College called, The
Jewish History of the New Testament, where he emphasizes the fact that
the New Testament writers and Jesus himself were all Jewish.

Rubin is more than upset about the arrest, having spent seven days in
jail where he dropped 16 pounds, claiming that he didn't eat for seven
days. Rubin is not claiming he wasn't fed, but saying the food wasn't
consumable. Rubin has a lot of complaints saying, "This prosecution is
completely political retribution because of my outspoken stance in favor
of cannabis against city officials who waste taxpayers money."

Rubin has named DEA agents by name as being petty thieves when his
Temple 420 was raided three years ago and has the video to back up his
statements; he has named the officer who testified against him as a
perjurer and again has video evidence (that was not allowed in court);
he is an outspoken critic of LAPD Narcotics Division, who Rubin alleges
have stolen millions of dollars from people they arrest, pointing out
that drugs are a cash business and the temptation is great.

Recently he and another pastor did an investigation of Building and
Safety officers in Los Angeles and uncovered what appeared to be the
taking of bribes as well as death threats from city employees writing on
public web sites about shooting their city managers and fellow
co-workers; pointing out when this goes down who is going to say, there
were red flags. "The city doesn't look into any of this stuff, but goes
after the person uncovering it," claims Rubin.

Rubin claims he was given permission by the probation department and
Judge Drew Edwards on May 15, 2008, in the court where he was convicted
of possessing and selling marijuana, to own and operate a marijuana
facility (club). Trutanich has proposed a law that would affect only
Rubin as it is already illegal to own and operate a medical pot club
while on probation without judges' and probation's permission; but a new
proposed ordinance would now make it law. The only person of the 1,400
clubs in Los Angeles this changes things for is Rubin.

The Pastor was given permission by the probation department and even has
an email from Asha Greenberg dated October 21, 2009 stating," We have no
intention to prosecute at this point." Rubin says of the prosecution,
"It is unjust, as I would have been closed had it not been for the email
from Asha Greenberg the day before saying she wasn't going to
prosecute." At court it was testified to that Asha Greenberg, Deputy
District Attorney, was the one who initiated the arrest of the pastor
less than 24 hours after writing they wouldn't prosecute for zoning
violations. The entire investigation is dedicated to the fact that Rubin
is unlicensed, when in fact he is licensed, and showed officers that
fact on the day of the arrest; so they changed the charges to alleged
child abuse -- charges the judge immediately threw out the first day in
court saying, "It is obvious to the court that Rubin went out of his way
to protect the young man and make (sure) he was never near marijuana."

Rubin, on the day of his arrest, his day off, picked up a young man from
his church and took him to buy a suit, shoes and a dress shirt. He then
stopped by his wife's T-shirt shop (Tara's, at 2366 Robertson Blvd.) to
get the kid a T-shirt. Rubin owns a medical marijuana club next door to
his wife's shop. Two police officers entered the shop and asked if the
owner of the medical club was in. Rubin, having been there for only five
minutes, greeted the men, explained how he ran a church-run cannabis
dispensary, invited them to his church in Pasadena and offered to answer
any of their Bible questions. After presenting ID showing they were
qualified patients to buy medical marijuana, which was verified by Dr.
James Eisenberg a licensed Calif. M.D., the police then asked to go next
door. Since it was Rubin's day off he did not join them, but stayed with
the young man from his church. Within minutes officers entered Rubin's
wife's store without a warrant, claiming because Rubin was there it
suddenly gave them the right to search the place. That would be akin to
searching Macy's because someone on probation was there.

Officers pointed a loaded weapon at the head of an unarmed 11-year child
who ran from them and then asked the boy to handle strange pit-bulls
that he had never met before. Officers then searched Tara Rubin's
business without a warrant and arrested the mayoral candidate on charges
of alleged "child abuse." When the preliminary hearing came about, it
was obvious the DA couldn't make a case for child abuse and Rubin had
all valid permits to be operating his medical marijuana club, which the
pastor operates as a church; but it seems that the Constitution doesn't
mean anything these days anyway. At Rubin's last trial the judge ruled
Rubin could not even mention the U.S. Constitution for fear it "might
confuse the jury." In the current case the DA is now claiming that Rubin
is not a qualified caregiver and therefore should go to jail for years.

Rubin, a Glenn Beck fan, says "Our Constitution is gone anyway when
government agents can get normal law abiding citizens to do acts they
are told are legal and then arrest them for it." Rubin had permission
from a judge, the probation department, a license from the City of Los
Angeles for Selling Medical Marijuana, and he paid his taxes for the
medical marijuana he sold on time.

Rubin doesn't understand where the crime is; but the taxpayers of Calif.
could be paying to lock him away for up to 12 years starting this Monday
if Steven Cooley and Carmen Trutanich get their way. Rubin won't see the
last four of his seven children graduate high school. Cooley recently
stated, "100 percent of medical marijuana clubs are illegal," and has
decided to start with the prosecution of the Pastor and his church once
again.

Rubin's wife and children are currently living in a hotel as the city
has once again taken all of the money the family had. The pastor is
sleeping on the floor of his church as he tries to sell the lease and
raise money for his family prior to his incarceration. Says Rubin,
"Personally, I think Cooley and Trutanich should spend a week in County
Jail. They stole the money my wife worked for over the last six months
and the funds were in no way commingled with the church's money. These
guys are thieves stealing peoples lives savings without a hearing prior
to any conviction."

The DA's office is acting like a criminal organization threatening to
jail council woman Jan Perry, going after homeless people, threatening
one of the city's best corporate contributors (AEG) and now trying to
lock up a pastor with a licensed church, a specialty permit who is only
trying to help sick people. At what point does America start to look
like the Soviet Union?

Additional Craig X Rubin news/RSS:
http://profiles.send2press.com/Craig_X_Rubin.shtml.


http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2009-11-1120-003.shtml

Police: Pot in baby's room wasn't 'just a plant on a window sill'


By JON CASSIDY and KIMBERLY EDDS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

November 20, 2009 4:16 PM



TUSTIN - A man and a woman accused of growing marijuana in a child's
bedroom remained behind bars Friday as police continue to investigate
whether a doctor's recommendation allowing the crop is legitimate.

Stephen Casino, 26, of Huntington Beach, is being held on $200,000 bail
and Tina Marie Turrieta, 29, of Tustin, is being held on $25,000 bail.

They are being held on suspicion of child endangerment, said Lt. Tom
Tarpley of the Tustin Police Department.

Police officers who visited the home at the Segovia Apartments at 15560
Tustin Village Way made some observations that led them to fear for the
safety of Turrieta's 1-year-old son, Tarpley said. He declined to say
what those observations were but said that the marijuana plants in the
child's bedroom were the primary concern. There were also unprescribed
pills at the house, he said.

The officers who went to the apartment found nearly two dozen plants,
police said. California law limits patients to growing 12 immature or
six mature plants per person.

Police took photos of the room for evidence but can't release them yet,
Tarpley said. Asked whether they were more like a marijuana jungle with
a crib or just a couple of sprouts in a corner, Tarpley said they
depicted a "cultivation operation."

"It wasn't just a plant on a window sill, I can tell you that," he said.

Turrieta has no convictions in Orange County more serious than some
traffic violations. Casino has been charged with assault with a deadly
weapon and hate crime violations over a Jan. 15 incident.

Police received a call from Child Protective Services around 3:30 p.m.
Thursday reporting a possible child endangerment case, Tarpley said.

Detectives started surveillance at the apartment and arrested Casino
when he arrived around 5:30 p.m.

Marijuana is non-lethal even in large quantities, but can cause
dizziness, nausea and other unpleasant effects.

Under California law, a person can be convicted for felony child
endangerment if he "permits that child to be placed in a situation where
his or her person or health is endangered."

"Our position is that a marijuana grow should not be in the vicinity of
a one-year-old child," Tarpley said.

Turrieta's 1-year-old son is in custody at Orangewood Children's Home.


http://www.ocregister.com/news/child-220559-police-tarpley.html

Prosecutor says medical marijuana manager hid behind law


By Kelly Wheeler, City News Service
Friday, November 20, 2009



The manager of a medical marijuana collective hid behind a law designed
to help patients legally obtain the drug so he could make money, a
prosecutor said Friday, but a defense attorney said the prosecution
would not be able to prove the charges against his client.

Jovan Jackson, 31, was arrested after a pair of raids at "Answerdam
Alternative Care" on Convoy Court in Kearny Mesa last year. Jackson
is charged with selling marijuana, possession for sale of marijuana and
possession of ecstasy. Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindberg told
jurors in his opening statement that the case against Jackson was not
about medical marijuana.

"This case is about making money, plain and simple," the
prosecutor said.

During the raids, officers found credit card receipts for more than
$150,000 in sales at Answerdam, Lindberg said. The prosecutor said the
case was not about marijuana patients but was "about profits."

"He (Jackson) was running a business," the prosecutor told the
jury.

Lindberg said an undercover San Diego police officer was able to get a
medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor and then bought marijuana
on two occasions at Answerdam, which, according to its records, had
1,649 members.

The prosecutor said the undercover officer paid $20 to join Answerdam
and immediately was able to buy the drugs. A raid on Aug. 5, 2008, at
Answerdam turned up five to six pounds of marijuana and a receipt in
Jackson's name for a $100,000 transaction to an investment company,
Lindberg said.

Agents also searched the defendant's home and found some marijuana
by his bed and 17 ecstasy tablets, according to the prosecutor. Lindberg
told the jury that Jackson took advantage of a law that allows medical
marijuana patients to legally buy the drug from a collective that grows
it to meet those needs.

But defense attorney K. Lance Rogers told the jury that the undercover
officer signed up for the medical marijuana collective under false
pretenses, using a fake name and getting a false medical recommendation.

Rogers said Lindberg wouldn't be able to prove that Jackson
"stood out" from other members in the collective.

"This is about Answerdam. This is not about Mr. Jackson," the
defense attorney told the jury.

Jackson, an eight-year Navy veteran, faces up to five years in prison if
convicted, Lindberg said. Two months ago, 31 people were arrested during
raids at 14 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego County.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the collectives appeared to be run
by drug dealers trying to make a "fast buck."

The number of medical marijuana dispensaries went up recently, in the
wake of San Diego County's failed attempt to overturn the
state's 1996 medical marijuana law and U.S. Attorney Eric
Holder's directive that federal agents only target medical marijuana
storefronts when operators violate both state and federal laws.

This story was written and edited by City News Service.


http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-20/local-county-news/courts/prosecu\
tor-says-medical-marijuana-manager-hid-behind-law

Los Angeles gets tough on medical marijuana shops


By Catherine Bremer
Saturday November 21, 2009



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and
through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to
a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud
displayed like candy.

Hundreds of pot shops have sprung up in the last couple of years across
Los Angeles, taking advantage of California's medical marijuana laws to
do a brisk trade in cannabis offerings branded with names like "Big
Buds" and "Super Trainwreck".

Roughly 1,000 marijuana dispensaries now cater to cancer patients and
recreational dope smokers alike -- but city prosecutors declared war on
many of them this month with threats to take action against those
selling pot for profit.

A state law passed in 1996 decriminalized marijuana for medical use, and
a 2003 ballot measure specified the drug could be cultivated and
distributed to prescription-holding patients through nonprofit
collectives.

Advocates for greater legalization have argued the 2003 initiative
permits medical marijuana to be sold in storefront businesses, which
have flourished since federal raids ceased after President George W.
Bush left office in January.

A 2007 city moratorium on new outlets made little difference.

The new crackdown by local authorities comes as President Barack Obama
has signaled a softer stance on medical marijuana, telling federal
attorneys not to prosecute individual users or dispensaries in states
where it has been legalized, and the country's first medical marijuana
cafe has opened in Oregon.

Licensed Californian collectives that adhere to the rules say legitimate
operations like theirs are being sucked into a sweep against what local
prosecutors deem rogue pot shops.

"We are low-hanging fruit for the cops," said the manager of a West
Hollywood dispensary, as a migraine-prone movie production assistant
came in to buy two quarter-ounce (seven-gram) bags of weed and a bag of
marijuana lozenges.

"We vet everyone who comes through the door. We play by the rules, we're
grown-ups. But there's zero law enforcement, so all these rogue
collectives have opened, and we are being lumped in with them," he said,
declining to give his name.

California was the first of about a dozen U.S. states to decriminalize
marijuana for medical purposes, and its use is less controversial in
cities like San Francisco and Oakland.

Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and City Attorney Carmen
Trutanich, however, say proliferation of pot shops in the second largest
U.S. city has gone too far.

LAVA LAMPS TO RED EYES

"There's no mention in the law that you can sell it over the counter,"
Joseph Esposito, head of the district attorney's narcotics division,
told Reuters. "The dispensaries are about clever people who looked at
the law and said: 'How can I make a lot of money exploiting this?'"

Dispensaries are allowed to take donations for marijuana to cover
cultivation costs and overhead, but they are not supposed turn a profit
or sell more than individual doses. The marijuana is supposed to be
consumed at the patient's home.

The atmosphere and look of dispensaries vary considerably. Some have
well-lit waiting rooms adorned with lava lamps, Asian-themed furniture
and holistic medicine magazines clearly geared toward clients suffering
from ill health.

"I'd be a nervous wreck if I couldn't come here," said Ernie, a gaunt
middle-aged man visiting an upscale West Hollywood outlet to buy pot
prescribed for his back pain, insomnia, amnesia and other minor mental
and physical disabilities.

Other shops reek of pot, with red-eyed smokers puffing away on pipes in
dingy back rooms where erotic posters boast a menu of marijuana strains
with names like "Skywalker" and "AK-47".

"I'm not a doctor. I don't ask what's wrong with people. My job is to
supply them," said the manager of one shabby pot shop, where a client
sported gang-style facial tattoos.

Another dispensary manager admitted most of his clients just want to get
high. He said they prefer the quality and prices of his products to
those on the street.

"Ninety percent of people that come in have been smoking their whole
lives," said the 26-year-old, giving his name as Alex. "I wouldn't be in
business if it wasn't for them."

"I'd say 1 percent of my clients have a genuine hospital note. The other
99 percent come from these doctors who set up offices to give marijuana
prescriptions all day," he added.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Mohammad Zargham)


http://thestar.com.my/news/nastory.asp?file=/2009/11/21/worldupdates/200\
9-11-21T041449Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-441348-1&sec=Worldupdates

Mammoth Lakes Town Council enacts ordinance to allow time to evaluate
legalities of medical marijuana


Local businessman at forefront of medical marijuana endeavor

By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer

Saturday, 21 November 2009



At the prompting of Police Chief Randy Schienle, town council on
Wednesday enacted a 45-day Urgency Ordinance prohibiting the opening of
marijuana dispensaries in Mammoth Lakes until council can further
evaluate the matter. Council also directed town staff to work with
persons from the community seeking information about such businesses.

One such local, Steve Klassen, owner of Wave Rave Snowboard Shop, spoke
openly in public for the first time about his legal use of medical
marijuana since Prop. 215 passed in California in 1996. He expressed his
interest in operating a medical marijuana business, which would be
organized as a mutual-benefit,  nonprofit California corporation with
certain regulations in place that best suit the community of Mammoth.

"I am definitely willing to sit down with Steve and discuss the
merits of it," Schienle said after the council meeting.
"He's certainly one of the better businessmen in the
community."

Klassen did not disclose the reason for his legal use of the medicine.
"It's kind of an uneasy feeling going from my family and my very
closest friends knowing, to the entire town of Mammoth," he said in
a phone interview on Thursday.

But he was compelled to do so for three reasons. "The first is I
personally feel it's my right to be able to obtain the medicine
that's been agreed to by my doctor and myself, and be able to do
that in a convenient way." Currently, he drives to Los Angeles every
two months for medical marijuana.

"From everything I know, to ban a dispensary outright goes against
California state law and the guidelines set up by the California
Attorney General," he added. California state code allows
cooperatives under California Health and Safety Code 11362.775.

"The second thing is that I'm a father. I have a son. Soon I
will be talking to him about drugs and I want there to be a different
paradigm about marijuana." There's a huge distinction to be
made, for example, between crystal meth and marijuana, which the AMA has
determined to have medical value.

"And the third point is that there is undeniable evidence that there
[are] massive scale, illegal marijuana growing operations within our
county," he said.

Marijuana on the streets here comes from those cartels and, in his view,
the only way to solve that problem is for full legalization of marijuana
in California. "Having a dispensary in town pushes it that much
closer," he concluded.

Klassen emphasized he is a patient, not an activist, and also seeks to
protect his reputation as a respected businessman. He publicly supported
Schienle's desire to impose a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana
dispensaries.

"That's the only way this will work," Klassen agreed.
"If they just went ahead and granted business licenses to anybody
that wanted to do it, it would get out of hand. People would make
mistakes."

He said he's been to enough dispensaries in Los Angeles to know what
would and wouldn't be congruent in Mammoth. For example, California
medical marijuana law states that the substance can be distributed to
patients over 18. "Personally, I don't feel that's right for
Mammoth." The age should be changed to 21 for Mammoth.

Indeed, one of the police chief's stated concerns in a prior news
report was that high school students might more easily get their hands
on the drug.

If he is permitted to open a dispensary, Klassen said he would organize
it as a cooperative, where everyone involved with the medical marijuana
is a member, including the growers, the patients and the people that run
the dispensary.

"In other words, the marijuana is grown under State guidelines.
It's a completely different quality of cannabis to what you buy on
the street," he explained. "You will be able to know everything
about the history of the cannabis that you would get from me – what
chemicals were used, what fertilizer, when and if any insecticide had to
be used."

He has taken two seminars run by attorneys in Los Angeles at the
Cannabis Career Institute to learn how to legally run a medical
marijuana dispensary.

Mono was one of the last counties in California to begin issuing DHS
Medical Marijuana identification cards on Oct. 1.  "You need a DHS
card to legally operate a dispensary in California," he said of his
application. He wants to set a model for the town.

"I intend to call Steve in the next day and try to facilitate
scheduling a meeting," Schienle confirmed. "We need to get this
before council by December 16, because that's the next time council
will consider this before the moratorium runs out."


http://www.mammothtimes.com/content/view/151422/27/

Stockbroker crusades for medicinal marijuana

Broward man must use '10 cigarettes daily' to cope with bone disorder


By Linda Trischitta, Staff writer
November 20, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE


Watch story video (1:13) -
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=03d715d8-451a-4fe7-a6\
49-e54afff8f9e7&src=front


Since 1982, Irvin Rosenfeld has received a free tin of 300 marijuana
cigarettes from the federal government every 25 days. And he wants the
world to know how it has helped him cope with multiple congenital
cartilaginous exostosis, a bone disorder that resulted in scores of
tumors in his body.

At a picnic table outside his office building Friday, stockbroker Irvin
Rosenfeld took a long drag on his 115,000th marijuana cigarette.

"It's delicious because it's legal," said Rosenfeld, 56. A bag bearing a
prescription label that orders "use 10 cigarettes daily" lay before him.
"I'm appreciative, happy and healthy because I have the right medicine."

Rosenfeld was celebrating. Since 1982, he said, he has received a free
tin of 300 marijuana cigarettes from the federal government every 25
days. And he wants the world to know how it has helped him cope with
multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a bone disorder that
resulted in scores of tumors in his body.

He credits marijuana with easing muscular contractions, swelling and
pain he has felt since age 10. He also believes it inhibits new tumors
on his largest bones, growths that can tear muscles and blood vessels.

"If I didn't use marijuana, if I was still alive I'd be homebound and
not have a lot of mobility," he said.

Rosenfeld said he did not experience red eyes, sleepiness or food
cravings from using marijuana.

"I get no euphoric effect from the medicine," he said.

Rosenfeld would not name his physician because of privacy concerns and a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said she cannot
confirm any individual's story.

Rosenfeld presented his doctor's report of his marijuana treatment to
the FDA 27 years ago and began receiving shipments as a participant in
the agency's compassionate investigational new drug program, he said.

"God's been there for me and I've got to give back," Rosenfeld said
about his crusade to destigmatize medical marijuana.

According to ProCon.org, 13 states have legalized marijuana for medical
use, a list that does not include Florida.

But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration considers marijuana
illegal in every state.

Penalties for amounts smaller than what Rosenfeld's tin contains can
garner 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Depending upon amounts
possessed at arrest, prison sentences can increase to 15 years.

Debbie Rosenfeld said of the marijuana use by her husband of 36 years,
"I hate the smoke and ashes. I don't use it. But I'm the first one to
jump on the bandwagon for what it's done for him."

She described how her husband would wake up screaming when his muscles
would tighten around bone growths.

"He'd be crawling on the floor, wishing the pain would ease," she said.
"But with marijuana, all of that went away. He's been on some heavy
medications in his day. Now he can get up and come to work."


Staff Writer Linda Trischitta can be reached at
ltrischitta@...


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-cannabis-smoker-20091120,0,1657931\
.story

Medical-marijuana price hikes from too many regulations worry Denver
councilman


By Michael Roberts
Fri., Nov. 20 2009 @ 1:45PM


Councilman Chris Nevitt doesn't want to give dispensaries an excuse to
start buying from bad guys.
​
While some officials seem to see the ongoing medical-marijuana boom as a
threat to all that's good and strong and true about our fair state,
Denver city councilman Chris Nevitt is focusing on the practical
questions that arise from the issue.

Earlier this month, Nevitt talked about regulating dispensary food
products that contain marijuana, among other things. But he wants to
make sure rules placed on medical-marijuana purveyors aren't so onerous
that they cause precipitous price increases -- a development that might
cause entrepreneurs to give their business to drug dealers rather than
more legitimate sources.

"For everybody who wants to participate in the medical-marijuana
industry, we don't want them to be tempted to go the illegal route," he
says.

This concern arises amid a conversation about councilman Charlie Brown's
presentation of proposed medical-marijuana regulations to the council's
safety committee on Wednesday. Nevitt had earlier felt that he and Brown
were far apart in their approach to this issue -- but he was impressed
by what CB brought to the table.

"I really appreciated the seriousness with which he's approaching this,"
Nevitt says. "I think maybe he started out in a kind of knee-jerk way:
'People are upset and we need to do something about this.' But he's
clearly really engaged. He's been talking not just to residents, but
also to the medical-marijuana industry -- and a lot of elements that
he's proposed make a lot of sense to me.

"The critical feature is taxation, which we've already got figured out,"
Nevitt goes on, joking that "we were into it before it was cool -- but
the state is catching up, which I'm glad to see. We'll be taxing it. And
I think our food safety regimen is absolutely critical to create."

Not that he and Brown and intellectually in concert on every facet of
the subject.

"The places I disagree with Charlie have principally to do with what I
think are additional and currently unwarranted burdens on the
medical-marijuana industry," Nevitt notes. "All his requirements for
security cameras and the filing of a business plan, the hiring of
security guards, and the location restrictions -- medical-marijuana
businesses can only be located a certain distance from schools, churches
and each other.

"I'm a strong believer in efficient government, and I don't believe we
should be spending taxpayer money to apply the force of government
unless we know what problem we're solving, and that we're solving it as
efficiently as possible. It could be that we need to establish location
restrictions, for example, but that's far from having been demonstrated.
And I don't think we should be throwing regulations in the way of a new
industry until we know that those regulations are necessary."

There could be plenty of unintended consequences if regulatory measures
prove too costly, he believes.

"My training is in political economy, and I think about getting the
prices right," he allows. "And if we make medical marijuana so expensive
by throwing a whole lot of pointless regulations in front of it, we're
going to drive up the price. We're going to reduce the supply and we're
going to increase the cost of doing business.

"If you think about that from a straight-forward entrepreneurial
perspective, when the price of medical marijuana starts to get too high,
it could match the price in the illegal market. Then people will be
indifferent to doing things the legal way. They'll think, 'Why bother
with the legal market? It costs me the same to go illegal, and it's a
lot easier.' And that would be perverse."

In Nevitt's view, its important to create a "transparent, guarded
pathway that assures both the public and the medical-marijuana user that
the medical-marijuana industry is separate from the illegal marijuana
industry." As such, he's pleased that state senator Chris Romer, who
attended the Wednesday hearing, is working to craft legislation to
establish clearer guidelines than presently exist; Romer recently shared
some of his ideas on the topic in this space.

"We're counting on Chris Romer to lead this effort," Nevitt says. "From
the city side, we can establish a licensing regime and an inspection
regime, and we can certainly fold them into our food-safety regime very
quickly. But the state needs to regulate the growers and be able to
establish that the marijuana grown by these growers is destined for
legal dispensaries. You can't say, 'Oh yeah, you can grow marijuana for
dispensaries,' and then let those growers also distribute marijuana into
the illegal marijuana market. We need to regulate the dispensaries to
make sure the source of their marijuana is legal, and that the barrier
between the legal and the illegal markets isn't breached."

Nevitt expects that such issues will next be batted around in a safety
committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, and he's
optimistic that the various council members can make progress. "I'm a
big believer in taking on all the things we agree on before we arm
wrestle about where we disagree," he says.

Now if only they can strike a balance between too much regulation and
not enough.


http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/11/medical-marijuana_price_hik\
es.php

Yreka bans marijuana dispensaries


By David Smith
Daily News
Fri Nov 20, 2009, 10:06 AM PST



The public had a chance to weigh in on a possible moratorium on medical
marijuana dispensaries Thursday night as the Yreka City Council held its
regularly scheduled meeting with two related ordinances up for
discussion.

The first commenter from the public told the council that she had tried
various prescriptions for health problems and problems with sleep. She
stated that while on certain medications she had been at risk for bodily
harm, in one instance driving in her sleep and crashing her car.

The woman stated that after receiving a prescription for medicinal
marijuana she has not experienced sleep problems and has dropped a
number of her other prescription medications. She added that she
believes a dispensary similar to the Hearts of Mt. Shasta collective in
the city of Mount Shasta would benefit the city of Yreka and its
citizens.

Next at the podium was the founder of Hearts of Mt. Shasta, Chris
Witcher, who said that he had gone to the city of Mount Shasta and had
been cleared to operate a dispensary there. He said that along with the
24 people who the dispensary has provided for, he works with the local
police department in providing gas vouchers for drivers in need and has
started a food bank, all using money the dispensary earns.

"We just want to help the community," Witcher said.

The next man, a Yreka resident, said that he applauded the city for
looking at the issue, saying, "I do not want pot sellers in my
town."

The man continued by stating that he does not believe that empty
storefronts should lead to the town being filled with tattoo parlors,
pot sellers and porn shops. He also stated that he believes the people
of Yreka want to see "hometown values" in the city.

Yreka Police Chief Brian Bowles also spoke during the comment period,
encouraging the council to evaluate the information he provided
regarding the issue, ending by stating that he is in full support of a
moratorium and ban on dispensaries.

A number of other members of the public also spoke, both those in
support and those not in support of the moratorium proposed by the city.

Upon the closing of the public comment period, councilmember David
Simmen stated that he believes a provision in the second ordinance may
create more of a nuisance if it is included. Specifically, he referred
to ordinance number 817, which would amend the Yreka Municipal Code by
prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives, cooperatives
and the cultivation of marijuana in any zone.

Simmen stated that at issue for him was the provision in the ordinance
stating that cultivation can be done by qualified patients or primary
caregivers, but only inside. He cited what he believed were possible
problems with restricting cultivation to indoors, including living space
issues, lighting and energy cost issues and the possible escalation of
theft crimes occurring inside a residence, among others.

Simmen stated that while he is against having dispensaries in Yreka, he
feels that with state law guaranteeing access for patients, removing the
indoor cultivation restriction would be safer.

City Attorney Mary Frances McHugh stated that a "significant body of
evidence" exists that supports the notion that marijuana plants
produce noxious odors and when planted outside can possibly invite a
public nuisance with regard to theft crimes.

After further discussion of whether or not the nuisance is increased by
restricting the cultivation to indoors, McHugh stated that both the
moratorium and the introduction of ordinance 817 would provide the city
with an opportunity to collect evidence and assess the possible impacts
of outright banning dispensaries.

When the items went to vote, ordinance number 816, "An Urgency
Ordinance of the City of Yreka adopting a Moratorium on Medical
Marijuana Dispensaries" was passed unanimously.

The second vote was to introduce Ordinance 817, meaning that it will be
referred to the Planning Commission for review and report. Simmen made
the motion to introduce the ordinance, with an alternative provision
eliminating the restriction to indoor cultivation, which also passed
unanimously.


http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1792905319/Yreka-bans-marijuana-dispe\
nsaries

'Cannabis' Drinks Can't Be Trademarked, Court Says


By SONYA ANGELICA DIEHN

Friday, November 20, 2009
Last Update: 10:40 AM PT



       (CN) - The word "Cannabis" may not be trademarked for beverages
containing hemp, a European court ruled. The Court of First Instance
upheld a European market office's determination that the mark is
descriptive, not distinctive.

       A German brewery producing a beer called "Cannabis Club" challenged
Italian beverage retailer Giampietro Torresan's 1996 registry of
"Cannabis" for a line of hemp-containing alcoholic beverages.

       The Luxembourg-based court agreed with the German brewery that this
is not a "normal" way of designating alcoholic beverages.

       Hemp has three possible meanings, according to the court: a textile
plant, a "narcotic which is prohibited by a great number of member
states," and a disputed therapeutic substance.

       The ruling said that the average consumer buying a "Cannabis" beer
will probably do so because "they are convinced that it contains
cannabis and are attracted by the possibility of obtaining from the
beverage the same ... sensations as they obtain from the consumption of
cannabis in another form."

       This makes "Cannabis" descriptive of a product's characteristics,
which cannot be trademarked, the court concluded.


http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/11/20/_Cannabis_Drinks_Can_t_Be_Trade\
marked_Court_Says.htm


Brett adds - The original complaint from September 2006 and court
judgement from Nov 19, 2009 are posted at -
http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=rechercher&\
numaff=T-234/06

Ark. lawmaker suggests legalizing marijuana to address prison
overcrowding


By Associated Press

10:42 AM CST, November 20, 2009


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A state senator says that legalizing or
lessening criminal penalties for marijuana may be one way to curb
overcrowding in Arkansas' prisons.

Sen. Randy Laverty, a Democrat from Jasper, said Thursday he wanted to
wait for legislative research and data from the Department of Correction
before he decides whether to sponsor legislation to lessen or eliminate
criminal penalties for the drug.

Laverty said at a legislative hearing this week that there should be
debate about legalization after asking prison officials how many inmates
are in jail on marijuana offenses. Laverty suggested that those using
the drug for medical purposes shouldn't be punished.

Laverty said he wouldn't consider sponsoring any proposals on the issue
until the 2011 session.

___

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,
http://www.arkansasonline.com


http://www.wreg.com/news/sns-ap-ar--arksenator-marijuana,0,1850225.story

LA Facing Health Epidemic


Medical Pot-Another View

By Nathan Donahoe

CityWatch
Vol 7 Issue 95
Pub: Nov 20, 2009



Los Angeles is in the middle of a health epidemic.  Seriously ill
Angelenos are being provided unregulated and potentially toxic medical
cannabis, from medical marijuana collectives (MMC's) with minimal
oversight from the City, operated by individuals with little
professional experience in health care.  Not only does this lack of
regulation impair the public health, it allows profiteers to take
advantage of the sick who are most in need of high quality medicine but
according to a wide range of experts and white papers correlate with
other adverse secondary effects.

The situation is further complicated by recreational and
pro-legalization groups who use medical marijuana and the current lack
of regulation as an opportunity to profit from and promote their
agendas.

During this period of non-regulation, how exactly does a neighborhood
council allow safe access for stakeholders who legitimately use medical
marijuana without allowing unscrupulous operators to take advantage of
loopholes and inaction by the City?

At the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (WLANC), we have
successfully dealt with these concerns and many others by being open to
and dialoging with local patients, MMC's and by creating an Ad Hoc
Medical Marijuana Committee comprised of industry professionals and over
sighted by the community and the Board.

Being advised by community minded patients, with expertise in the
medical marijuana industry gives the community previously unheard of
access to operational procedures, standards and practices in this
formerly "criminal" industry which allows the WLANC to be on the
forefront of reform in the medical marijuana industry.

The result of this was our "Green Paper", our suggested
ordinance and a comprehensive review of the pending medical marijuana
regulations for Los Angeles City from a West LA perspective.

This 63 page report has been sent to several City departments, NC's
and is the basis for much of our information.  It is clear that creating
an effective and responsible ordinance, that is a win-win-win situation
for patients/collectives, community and law enforcement is within our
grasp.  It can be simple, easy and be based on common sense and existing
laws.

Our goal is to empower our community and fellow NC's by presenting
the simple steps we are taking to effectively deal with the medical
marijuana issue, in a duplicatable, easy to understand format in the
hopes that they will find similar success.

How to find the locations of most of the MMC's in your boundaries.

Click here for [
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dispensaries-i,0,5658093.htmlsto\
ry ] an online map from LA Times listing locations of all the registered
pre-ICO and hardship MMC's.  Zoom in to find the ones who are in
your boundaries.

Make a note of all locations and addresses.  For example, in the WLANC
we are bounded by the 405 on the east, 10 on the south, Wilshire on the
north and Centinela on the west. We currently have 14 MMC's, 3 of
them pre-ICO, 11 of them hardship.

To get more information on the hardship MMC's, go to the City
Clerk's Online Council File Management System here [
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm ]  Click the
"+" sign next to "advanced search",  type
"dispensary" in the first search box, scroll down until you see
the box that says "Council District", click whatever council
district you are in and then click "search".

After the program brings up a list of records, you can then save them
into a .PDF or EXCEL file by the "Create Report" button.  Then
match up the addresses from the LA Times map with the City Clerks to get
an idea of how many are in your district.

You can then educate yourself further on the quality of MMC's in
your district by reviewing their actual applications.  For example, one
of the collectives in our district's application [
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2005/05-0872-s285_misc_5-01-2009.pdf
] states their reason for hardship as, " … just became aware of
need to register with city …".

The intention of the hardship clause was to allow legally licensed
pre-moratorium MMC's who were forced to relocate due to threatening
DEA landlord letters the opportunity to comply.  This application
appears to demonstrate no hardship, a lack of professionalism and since
they have never made any contact with the WLANC, we assume that they are
not community minded.

Please note that the LA Times and City Clerk website needs to be
updated, some locations have shut down, relocated and many more have and
are currently opening up before the ordinance comes out.   The true
number of MMC's in anyone's district is currently unknown.

Next, from the WLANC "Green Paper", can be gleaned a checklist
of preferable operational practices that were created from a
collaboration of the WLANC, industry professionals and patients in our
district.

It is not necessarily recommended that NC's physically visit
MMC's to inspect or ask these questions themselves.  In the latest
draft ordinance, Certified Neighborhood Councils will be part of the
pre-inspection  process and more MMC's are realizing the importance
of creating win-win relationships with their Council's and how
integral working with the community is to their long term existence.

Having this checklists available will ensure that your council is
knowledgeable, prepared and that legitimate MMC's in your district
will have community supported operational recommendations to go by until
effective regulations are implemented.

A legitimate MMC, run by patients who truly care about compassionate
safe access for medical marijuana will likely already be fulfilling
these recommendations or will want to in order to ensure the best
cannabis healthcare for their patients.

   Where does the medicine come from?  A legitimate  MMC will likely
consistently get medicine from the same qualified members and  not from
"vendors" or "salesman".  These are usually people with
backpacks of marijuana, are "members" at many different
MMC's  and seek profit.

What are your standards of quality control, are your professionals and
experts?  How does your MMC ensure that your cannabis is suitable for
seriously ill patients , free from contaminants, chemicals, molds,
pesticides etc?  Do you physically visit cultivation sites to inspect?
Do you staff medical marijuana industry professionals or is the medicine
being cultivated and inspected by novices?

What professional healthcare experience does your staff have with
Cancer, AIDS and other seriously ill patients?

Community Relations.  Are your staff and patients proactively involved
in their community and neighborhood council?  What has been your history
of neighborhood concerns, complaints and how have you responded to them?

Do you operate for profit?

Education.  How do you ensure that your patients are properly educated
on medical marijuana laws and dosage and usage amounts?  An uneducated
or irresponsible patient is costly and burdensome to the community, law
enforcement and their collective.

What are your advertising practices?  Do you appear to promote
recreational use?  Do you engage in discounts, gifts and give away free
medical marijuana to patients?    (Please visit the Los Angeles Journal
of Education on Medical Marijuana [
http://www.virtualonlineeditions.com/publication/?i=23617 ] and type the
name of MMC's in your area in the search box.)

How do you minimize adverse secondary effects such as crime, abuse,
resale on the street?  Do your members cultivate collective medicine in
Indoor Grow Operations (IGO's) in residential areas?  Were those
locations wired and built by professionals (i.e. licensed electricians)
to existing building code?

Do you provide edibles (foods with marijuana in them) to your patients?
Are they made by professionals in certified commercial kitchens
according to LA County DPH standards?

(Nathan Donahoe  is the Chair of the Medical Marijuana Committee for the
West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and can be reached at
organicchef@...)


http://www.citywatchla.com/content/view/2940/75/

Can LA be Fixed?


Mad as Hell

By Jay Handal

CityWatch
Vol 7 Issue 95
Pub: Nov 20, 2009



The problems with Los Angeles continue to mount.

Once again the City is taking matters into its own hands. Sometimes I
feel that those hands are the older hands we see in the Allstate
Insurance ads. They fold in on us crushing our quality of life. Remember
when Los Angeles was a nice place to live?

So, look at what is still happening:

The City Council Public Safety and PLUM committees met to discuss the
medical marijuana ordinance as proposed by the City Attorney.

Once again, turning its back on the recommendations of their City
Attorney, they punted the ball hoping that when, not if, they screw it
up again it can end up in court … costing the city millions of
dollars it does not have … and hope that someone smarter then them
will make the decision.

LA District Attorney Steve Cooley said his office was already
prosecuting some dispensaries and he promised to step up those efforts
next month.

Cooley said he decided to weigh in today because he was irritated that
the council had ignored the advice of the City Attorney, Carmen
Trutanich.

"What the City Council is doing is beyond meaningless and
irrelevant," he told the LA Times.

"These guys over there, God love them, are four years into this, and
they won't listen to their good lawyer," Cooley said.
"They're sort of doing their own thing."

Councilman Ed Reyes, who has overseen the development of the city's
Medical Marijuana Ordinance, said he did not think Cooley's comments
would cause the Council to rethink whether to allow sales.

"This is not about Cooley versus Reyes, or Cooley versus the
council. This is about the quality of life. We all have better things to
do than to do this legal jousting," he said.

Reyes said the law was not clear on the issue. "We'll let the
courts decide," he said.

Now, let's talk about billboards:

The industry seems to be trying to figure out how to switch their hands
from one pocket to the next.

City Council members, seeing that the federal court has upheld the city
position, should have immediately called for ALL digital billboards to
be made dark. TURN THEM OFF.

If you need another opinion on the illegal issues then move forward to
get one. (God knows you won't listen to your city attorney anyway), but
at least shut the billboards off until a final decision is made.

City lawyers plan to brief council members as early as next week on the
effect of the judge's ruling.

Councilman Ed Reyes said the city would not take any action before that
report.

Reyes and Council President Eric Garcetti have proposed ordering city
officials to "immediately evaluate" whether the 101 digital
signs should be removed or modified.

What happened to having a spine?

Why is it our elected officials can't seem to do the job they are highly
paid for when smaller cities not only get it done YEARS ahead of LA, but
much cheaper, as most small cities councils are part time and on
stipends.

Look at the committees and their members who consistently prolong the
quality of life issues we deal with. Notice the common denominators?

Now, let's talk about DWP rate increases. Or granny dwellings.

Better yet, let's not.

Isn't it time for the citizens to take back our city before it becomes
one big pot hole?

Let's begin before it is too late.


(Jay Handal is Chair of the West LA Neighborhood Council. He can be
reached at sgrest@...)

Visalia Pot Shop Owner Prepares for Legal Showdown


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Shannon Handy, abc30.com News Team



Watch story video (3:02) - http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/video?id=7128943


Visalia, Calif. (KFSN) -- A businessman's bold move is setting up a
legal showdown in Visalia. Medical marijuana is being openly sold in
Visalia.

From jars filled with marijuana, to a California business license and
menus on the wall, Bryan Ruiz's Visalia medical marijuana dispensary,
Central Cali Caregivers, is officially open for business.

Ruiz said, "Oh this is a thing I came up with. I was working in a
laboratory for a long time and I came up with 24 Carat Gold Marijuana."

Ruiz also invested in security measures like a metal detector and
cameras. Ruiz said, "I'm trying to get it out to people that are sick,
not to people who don't need it. People who need it, they need to come
here and have safe access to it."

Ruiz opened his dispensary on Tuesday, a day after the Visalia City
Council voted for the second time to temporarily ban marijuana
dispensaries.

The council adopted a 45 day moratorium back in October, and extended it
by another 10 months on Monday night.

City officials say they need more time to review state and federal laws
and a 2006 ordinance that established zoning rules and a permit process
for medical marijuana dispensaries in Visalia.

"They said I'm not going to open in my lifetime, that's what they're
saying. So that sounds personal to me. They just don't like me and
that's where they're taking it," said Ruiz.

Ruiz's defiance has not gone unnoticed by Visalia police.

Chief Colleen Mestas says her officers spent Thursday trying to track
Ruiz down to talk to him and learn more about his operation.

Chief Mestas said, "The last resort would be an arrest in my opinion. I
would like to come up with some type of agreement with them so that they
can learn to work within the system."

"They don't want me here, but I'm not gonna quit. I gotta fight for my
rights and my people's rights," said Ruiz.


http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7128877

Trial For Med Pot Collective Manager Advances


POSTED: 6:18 am PST November 20, 2009



SAN DIEGO -- Opening statements are scheduled Friday morning in the
trial of a manager of a medical marijuana collective charged with
possessing the drug for sale.

Jovan Jackson, an eight-year Navy veteran, was arrested after a pair of
raids at "Answerdam Critical Care" on Convoy Court in Kearny Mesa.

Jackson, 31, is one of a number of people involved in marijuana
collectives arrested by authorities who claim their organizations don't
operate within the guidelines of California's Compassionate Use Act. He
has been free on bond.

Critics of the collectives believe they are for-profit businesses that
don't closely check their clients to make sure they are eligible to use
marijuana for medical purposes.

The collective, which served approximately 1,600 people, is now closed,
10News reported earlier this week.

The station reported that one of those listed as a patient is Deputy
District Attorney James Pitts, who might be called to testify for the
defense.

----------

Previous coverage:

» Deputy DA Admits Membership In Medical Pot Collective -
http://www.10news.com/news/21645942/detail.html

----------

http://www.10news.com/news/21674013/detail.html

Irvin Rosenfeld Nears Pot Smoking Record


Updated: Friday, 20 Nov 2009, 9:53 AM EST
Published : Friday, 20 Nov 2009, 9:51 AM EST

By FRANK CARNEVALE



(MYFOX NATIONAL) - Irvin Rosenfeld, a 56-year-old stockbroker from Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. will smoke his 115,000th marijuana cigarette Friday, a
possible world record, and he can thank the U.S. government for his
supply.

"Yep, provided by Uncle Sam," Rosenfeld told NBCMiami.com. "They grow it
for me, I find that quite ironic."

Since 1982, Rosenfeld has been a patient in the Federal Drug
Administration's Investigational New Drug Program. He suffers from a
rare bone disorder called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses.
To alleviate the pain associated with the disorder he was prescribed
marijuana.

The marijuana is grown on a farm on the campus of the University of
Mississippi and is delivered to a pharmacy where Rosenfeld picks up a
tin of 300 federally grown and rolled cigarettes that have been sent for
him. He said he smokes between 10 and 12 marijuana joints per day.

"The first thing I do every morning is smoke two joints as I watch my
business shows," Rosenfeld said. "Then another on my drive to work."

According to Fortune magazine Rosenfeld is one of four people in the
United States whom the federal government supplies with medical
marijuana.

His marijuana use has led to comical moments at his office. Marijuana
"has a distinct smell," said an executive that works with Rosenfeld to
USA Today . "The mailman or someone coming into the building will stop
and notice."

NBCMiami.com. reported that Rosenfeld is writing a book on his
experiences as the nation's longest-running legal pot-smoker,
tentatively called "Potluck." He hopes to have it published in the
spring. But he expects Friday, Nov. 20, he will set a world record for
marijuana consumption when when he lights up No. 115,000.

Earlier this month, the American Medical Association moved closer to
supporting medical marijuana, adopting a measure urging a federal review
of marijuana's status as a controlled substance, reported The Associated
Press. The group said its position doesn't mean it supports legalizing
marijuana.


http://www.myfoxmaine.com/dpp/news/dpgo-Irvin-Rosenfeld-Marijuana-Record\
-fc-200911201258728790036

Principal figure in Butte County medical marijuana scam gets three years
in prison


By TERRY VAU DELL - Staff Writer
Posted: 11/20/2009 12:12:08 AM PST



OROVILLE — Finding it to be a "criminal enterprise," a Butte County
judge Thursday slapped a principal figure in a large medical marijuana
scam with $107,000 in fines and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Casey James Wilkins of Chico was one of 15 individuals arrested after
the names of the same medical marijuana patients were found posted in a
series of "collective" grows in the fall of 2008 throughout Butte
County.

Most of the defendants who entered into a joint plea bargain earlier
this year have since been granted probation and given jail terms of 120
to 180 days.

Superior Court Judge Steven Howell Thursday sentenced Wilkins to the
upper term of three years in prison for possession of marijuana for sale
and money laundering, ordering an additional eight months on a third
count of illegal cultivation of pot to run concurrent.

Assistant district attorney Helen Harberts asserted Wilkins had
purchased much of the property on which the grows were discovered, and
funneled profits from the illegal venture into a series of "shell"
businesses in Chico.

"This was a massive fraud; it was only because of the defendant's
arrogance and greed was it ever uncovered at all," said the prosecutor
at Wilkins' sentencing Thursday.

Wilkins' attorney, Dane Cameron, denied his client was the mastermind
behind the illegal operation. The defense attorney contended Wilkins
allowed others to operate medical marijuana collectives on his various
property, but did not control their actions.

While some defendants in the case purchased medical marijuana scripts
from patients, there was no evidence Wilkins did so, the defense
attorney contended in a presentencing brief.

Cameron said the fact Wilkins owed money on the properties and that all
are now in foreclosure, shows him to be a "poor manager of money," not
the sophisticated "drug kingpin" portrayed by the prosecution.

In handing down the upper-term prison sentence and large fine to Wilkins
Thursday the judge said he viewed the defendant's actions "as one of a
criminal enterprise, not a clumsy attempt to set up a collective."

Howell ordered a co-defendant, Matthew Herrick, to undergo a 90-day
diagnostic evaluation at a state prison before sentence is imposed in
his case.

The prosecutor had characterized Herrick as Wilkins' "right-hand man,"
and took issue with a probation report recommending he be granted
probation.

Herrick's lawyer, Dennis Latimer, disputed that assertion outside of
court.

"He was not a ringleader," Herrick's lawyer replied. A co-defendant,
Keith Colin O'Shea, was placed on three years probation Thursday and
ordered to serve 120 days in jail for his involvement in the medical
marijuana scam.

Sentencing was postponed for a fourth defendant also convicted by plea,
Mathew Robert Eubanks, so his lawyer can prepare a statement in
mitigation. Three others are awaiting separate trials in what
authorities have termed the "mega" medical marijuana fraud case.

At a preliminary hearing earlier this year, Butte County sheriff's
officers quoted several medical marijuana patients as telling them that
because they were unable to grow medicinal pot themselves, they had
joined what they throughout were individual lawful collectives.

Many told the officers they didn't realize their doctor's scripts were
being copied, sold and posted at six indoor and outdoor grow sites in
and around Chico, Butte Creek canyon, Forest Ranch and Concow.

The illegal grows were discovered in September 2008. Asked what message
Thursday's prison sentence in the case sends, the prosecutor replied:

"I think the message is to the voters (who passed the California medical
marijuana law in 1996) "that what they thought they voted for isn't
what's going on," said Harberts.


http://www.chicoer.com/ci_13831346

Texans Trying To Legalize Pot

Proponents Say Marijuana Can Be Used As Medicine


Tim Gerber, KSAT 12 News Reporter

POSTED: Thursday, November 19, 2009
UPDATED: 7:27 am CST November 20, 2009


Watch video story (2:37) - http://www.ksat.com/video/21671454/



GARLAND, Texas -- Tim Timmons is not your average pot smoker.

The former risk management consultant, college professor and stand-out
athlete has never considered himself a hippy or a pothead.

Even so, Timmons has been smoking marijuana nearly every day for the
past six years. He doesn't smoke to get high. According to him, he's
just taking his medicine.

Timmons is slowly wasting away from Multiple Sclerosis, a painful
disease that attacks the nervous system.

"I would be considered in one of the final stages of the disease right
now," Timmons said.

Diagnosed 22 years ago, the former football player and bull rider is now
confined to a wheel chair. He is paralyzed from the waist down and no
longer has control over his bladder or bowels. Timmons relies on his
wife to help him go to the bathroom, take a bath and get in and out of
bed.

In addition to losing control of his muscles, Timmons must also live
with a great deal of pain and frequent muscle spasms.

"The pain is overwhelming, to the extent where you're in bed the only
thing you can do is hold yourself in a fetal position," said Timmons.

Doctors have prescribed him a virtual pharmacy of powerful narcotics to
treat the pain and symptoms his disease causes. At one point he was
taking as many as 20 different drugs up to four times a day.

Timmons never thought to treat his pain with marijuana until a chance
encounter with a former high school classmate at their 30th class
reunion six years ago. The man offered Timmons a joint and told him it
might help ease his pain. Desperate for anything that could relieve the
constant pain, Timmons took a toke.

"The pain relief was immediate. And I thought, 'Whoa, what's the problem
with this if it works this well for people that are in pain,'" Timmons
said.

Not long after that first joint, Timmons began looking for someone to
supply him with pot. He did some research on the Internet, which led him
to a restaurant where he began asking waiters where he could find some
marijuana. By the time he left, he had a bag of weed.

Timmons now gets his "medicine" from Mendocino, Calif., an area known
for producing some of the highest-quality marijuana in the U.S. He said
he spends about $480 a month for one ounce which typically lasts him
three to four weeks.

While California and 12 other states have legalized marijuana for
medicinal use, pot is still illegal in the state of Texas. Timmons is
trying to change that.

"You think, 'Well how is it, it can be helping these people in these
other states but it won't help me in Texas?'" Timmons said as he puffed
on a pipe filled with marijuana, taking a deep breath of the white
smoke, holding it in a few seconds and exhaling with a smile on his
face.

Timmons accidentally became the face of the movement to legalize medical
marijuana in Texas when he spoke at the State Capital in 2007 and urged
state lawmakers to pass legislation to protect patients. During that
speech, he admitted he was a daily pot smoker and invited police to come
arrest him, even giving his home address and phone number so they could
easily find him. A video of that speech was put on You Tube and has been
viewed thousands of times. Despite his attempts to get arrested, no law
enforcement agency has ever taken him up on his offer.

Unlike other states that have successfully passed laws legalizing
medical marijuana, the focus in Texas is to get lawmakers to pass a bill
that gives patients an affirmative defense. Under current law, patients
who get caught buying or using marijuana to treat their illnesses can
not use that as a defense in court.

"You're barred from mentioning that and how ludicrous is that. That you
can't even tell the jury why you were doing it. You just have to sit
there and be silent," Timmons said. "We are not even trying for medical
marijuana in Texas. We're trying to simply get it to where someone in
the position like me would at least be able to offer an affirmative
defense to the jury and say, 'This is why I was breaking the law.'"

The first attempt to get medical marijuana legislation passed was in
2001. Every bill that's been introduced each session since then has died
in committee. Timmons believes socially conservative politicians are
unwilling to risk their political careers on such a hot button issue,
particularly one that has the medical community at odds.

For years many doctors and medical organizations have stated pot has no
medical benefit. Many of those same doctors and groups, including the
American Medical Association, are now changing their attitude when it
comes to medicinal uses for marijuana, calling for more serious studies.

"I have to believe that there might be some medicinal effects of it, and
if science can prove that it can be delivered in a form that isn't
harmful, great," said Joel Marcus, a Clinical Psychologist at the UT
Health Science Center's Cancer Therapy and Research Center.

Marcus is one of a handful of psychologists who are helping cancer
patients deal with the effects of living with cancer. He said many of
his patients ask him about using marijuana to relieve the nausea and
vomiting that come with their radiation treatments. Marcus tells them to
stay away.

"I can't in any good conscience recommend something that could be
carcinogenic," Marcus said. "I see far too many patients living with and
dying from lung cancer to say go ahead and smoke anything."

Instead Marcus, and many other doctors, offer patients a drug called
Marinol which is a synthetically produced version of the main chemical
in marijuana that gets you high and relieves pain -- that chemical is
THC. In fact Marinol is the only legal "medical marijuana" available in
the U.S. that is approved by the Federal Drug Administration and the
Drug Enforcement Agency.

Still, patients like Timmons said they tried Marinol and found that it
doesn't work as well as real marijuana. Patients said Marinol takes up
to three hours to begin working, whereas taking one toke of a joint
provides instant relief. Those patients also said marijuana can be
ingested into the body without smoking it. In most medical marijuana
dispensaries in California, patients can buy baked goods and candy made
with pot.

Joel Marcus said the jury is still out on the effectiveness of those
types of delivery methods for medicinal marijuana but he's keeping an
open mind on the subject.

"I'm all in favor of finding out new methods of controlling symptoms,"
Marcus said. "We're all about quality of life and improving quality of
life, and if a study of the medicinal properties of marijuana in a
butter form or a liquid form or in some other way that isn't
carcinogenic could provide relief for or patients, I'm all for it."

Until science can prove pot is medicine patients like Timmons say they
will continue to break the law to get the medicine they need.

"If I can break the law as many times as I possibly can to help someone
else that's in a similar situation escape the pain and actually function
and become a part of the procession of life, then heck man, I'm all for
breaking the law," he said.


Web Extras:

      * Tim Timmons 'You Tube' Video (3:18) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRs5-zlh7w8

      * Medical Marijuana Web Site -
http://texansformedicalmarijuana.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=v\
iew&id=196

      * Medical Marijuana Web Site - http://www.mpp.org/states/texas/

      * DEA Stance On Medical Marijuana -
http://149.101.225.20/dea/ongoing/marinol.html



http://www.ksat.com/health/21670669/detail.html

LA Times columnist David Lazarus in a video story that is hilarious and
literally had coffee up and out my nose from laughing when I watched it
the first time. Enjoy.


Peace

brett


Lazarus: Who wants pizza?


Columnist David Lazarus soberly tackles the medical marijuana question.
(1:58) -


http://www.latimes.com/videobeta/?watchId=52f805bd-53a0-4ee8-a08b-f41879\
c3a271

Workshop on medical marijuana set for Dec. 9


Friday, November 20, 2009



The city of Napa is seeking public comments as it develops an ordinance
regulating medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

A workshop will be Dec. 9 at the Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson
St., from 6 to 9 p.m.

The City Council voted earlier this year to prepare an law that would
allow one or more medical marijuana clinics to operate under strict
guidelines.

For more information, contact Desiree Brun, a city management analyst,
at 257-9311 or by e-mail to dbrun@....


http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/11/20/news/local/doc4b06\
41f4a4ae3573694046.txt

Scientists have a duty to challenge government policies, top researcher
says


November 20, 2009



When political leaders ignore scientific evidence on controversial
topics, such as harm reduction and safe-injection sites, scientists are
obliged to speak out, says Dr. Thomas Kerr, director of the Urban Health
Research Initiative in British Columbia.

Scientists have an obligation to speak out when political leaders
"systematically ignore scientific evidence," says a leading
researcher with the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
in Vancouver.

The principal role of science is to advance human understanding and
scientists cannot be "excused from doing the right thing"
because of fear of a threat to their credibility, Dr. Thomas Kerr told
the annual conference of the Ontario HIV/AIDS Treatment Network in
Toronto on Nov. 17.

Kerr, director of the BC Centre's Urban Health Research Initiative,
said his centre's research into the downtown Vancouver Insite
supervised safe-injection site for drug users comes under attack
regularly.

Some politicians and media commentators take issue with scientific
evidence about the benefits of harm reduction programs, such as needle
exchanges for injection drug users, in reducing rates of transmissible
diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, he said in an interview after his
address at the conference.

"We still have commentators who say needle exchanges don't work,
which is just shocking," he said.

Kerr advised researchers to delay speaking publicly about
policy-relevant research findings until their research has been peer
reviewed. For example, researchers at the BC centre have agreed not to
speak out about findings related to Insite until the research "has
passed the test of independent peer review," Kerr said. "We use
the system of independent peer review as a form of protection."

However, scientists can and should advocate for better integration of
science and policy development, he said, adding that at his centre,
researchers "regularly respond when we think science is being
misrepresented."

"As academics, we have some choices," he said. "We can
pursue research of intellectual interest, but when a question presents
itself that has policy relevance, we have an obligation to take it
on."

Response might take the form of writing letters to media outlets or
working with community-based, legal and human rights organizations, he
said.

For example, when the federal government repeatedly cited articles in
the Global Journal of Drug Policy to criticize the BC centre's
evaluation of Insite, the centre worked with the Vancouver-based Pivot
Legal Society. Through freedom of information requests, the legal group
discovered that the RCMP had paid for the reports printed in the
journal, which, in response to media questions, the RCMP later
confirmed.

The discovery "led to calls for greater oversight of the RCMP and a
ban on political interference in science by policing organizations,"
said Kerr, recipient of a Canadian Institutes for Health Research
national knowledge translation award.

The BC centre also helped support, with research findings, Vancouver
organizations when they took the federal government to the Supreme Court
of British Columbia in an effort to prevent the closure of Insite, he
said. As well, Kerr said, more than 100 researchers, physicians and
public health officials endorsed a 2007 commentary by Dr. Stephen Hwang,
a noted researcher with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at
Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital. Hwang drew an analogy between
evidence of harm reduction from safe injection sites and a (fictional)
intervention that could reduce complications from diabetes, and drew
into question the federal government's hostility toward the former
(Open Medicine 2007: vol 1, No. 2).

The BC court ruling in 2008 gave Insite a constitutional exemption to
stay open and struck down parts of Canada's drug laws. However, the
federal government is appealing the decision.

Kerr said he is frustrated that the federal government, with no
scientific evidence, continues to support drug courts in several major
cities. Drug courts are a form of judicial diversion in which
individuals who plead guilty to drug-related crimes can go to treatment
to avoid jail time, he explained.

"No peer reviewed study has found that drug courts work, except some
evidence that the approach is effective for first-time offenders on
marijuana charges. Despite this, drug courts are being expanded."

- Ann Silversides, CMAJ

DOI:10.1503/cmaj.109-3114


http://www.cmaj.ca/earlyreleases/20nov09_advocates_silversides.shtml

Calimesa City Council sets a special meeting for Nov. 30 to further
discuss medical marijuana


By BILL BROWN
Staff Reporter
Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:13 PM PST


Monday evening, the Calimesa City Council received and filed a report on
measures which would alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption
of an interim urgency ordinance prohibiting the establishment of a
medical marijuana or cannabis dispensary. During its Nov. 16 meeting,
the council considered a report for changes in the city code that would
also be part of the ordinance.

During a 45 day moratorium, city staff has been studying regulation of
medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives. The
council accepted  the report and directed the staff to continue studying
the issue.

City Attorney Kevin Ennis continues to monitor legal situations, he
said, including pending legal action cases in the Claremont and Anaheim
areas which may help the city's ability to regulate establishments.

Special meeting

The council set Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. for a special meeting with a public
hearing to review further information on the subject.  The council may
consider the extension of interim ordinance of either 10 months and 15
days or 22 months and 15 days as a moratorium of medical marijuana
facilities.

Parking

A continued public hearing regarding the parking of recreational and
commercial vehicles was continued to the Dec. 7 meeting to allow more
research. Mayor Hyatt said, "It is hoped the word
`commercial' will be taken out."

Library

The council heard a request by the Library Commission to dedicate the
library's computer center in memory of Dottie Davis. After unanimous
approval, a dedication will be held Thursday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.

RDA

The meeting recessed and the Redevelopment Agency convened to consider
two items, the first to terminate the Manufactured Home Improvement
Program and unencumber any unused funds set aside for the program. The
other approves an amendment to the contract with Urban Futures, Inc. for
a third-party redevelopment plan adoption services in an amount not to
exceed $40,000.

Both issues passed uanimously.

To allow better audience  participation, Hyatt asked the staff to
consider a change in the regular agenda by adjusting a comment session
to an earlier spot  where there may be more of the audience that might
be able to hear issues.



http://www.newsmirror.net/articles/2009/11/20/news/doc4b05ba344049f31497\
0672.txt

Carroll backs proposed medical marijuana law


By PHIL GARBER, Managing Editor
Published: Nov 20th, 6:55 AM



Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris, remembers when a family
member was suffering from debilitating nausea and extreme pain for
months after her surgery for ovarian cancer.

Carroll knew that something as simple as marijuana could significantly
limit his relative's  discomfort. He also knew it was illegal to use
marijuana for any reason, including medical reasons.

The Assemblyman said the experience three years ago reinforced his
belief that it is wrong to bar people like his relative from smoking
marijuana if it could ease their suffering. It wasn't long
thereafter that Carroll joined in co-sponsoring an Assembly bill to
legalize use of marijuana for medical reasons.

Various studies have shown that marijuana can lessen debilitating pain
and nausea commonly experienced by people with cancer, HIV/AIDS and
other chronic and crippling diseases. Officials in New Jersey have been
considering medical marijuana legislation for at lest five years but
Carroll said on Sunday that this year the proposal may finally become
law.

A Senate version of the medical marijuana bill, S-119, has passed while
the Assembly version, A-804, is awaiting action. Gov. Jon Corzine has
said he will sign the bill if it is passed by the Legislature while
Gov.-elect Chris Christie has not said his intention. New Jersey would
then be the 14th state to allow medical use of marijuana.

The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, and
Carroll is the only Republican among a number of co-sponsors.

"I'm a great believer that physicians should be freed from the
restrictions drawn by  people who are not physicians," Carroll said
on Sunday in a program at the Skylands Unitarian Universalist fellowship
in Mansfield Township.

The Unitarian fellowship draws its membership largely from Long Valley,
Budd Lake and sections of Warren County.

"The government should not stand between a patient and his
doctor," said Carroll, who is considered one of the state's most
conservative legislators. "I see people in wheelchairs who say
marijuana is their only way to get help."

Carroll represents the 25th  legislative district which includes Mendham
Township, Mine Hill, Boonton and Boonton Township, Denville,  Dover,
Jefferson, Morris Township, Morristown, Mount Arlington, Randolph,
Rockaway, Rockaway Township, Roxbury, Victory Gardens and Wharton.

Personal Experiences

The legislator said another personal situation further spurred him to
support the legalization of pot for medical reasons. He said his
grandmother had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that doctors had
given her six months to live.

"Six years later, she was still trucking on but she suffered from
horrible pain," Carroll said.

The doctors prescribed a derivative of heroin and cocaine to help ease
the pain. It was an irony that did not get past Carroll.

"But marijuana is considered a problem?" he said.

Carroll said he has had his own painful, medical ailments which further
illustrated why a prohibition on the use of medical marijuana makes no
sense.

He said he was suffering from a recurrence of gout and found it very
painful to walk. A physician prescribed large doses of Motrin but it was
not helpful. Another doctor prescribed Vicodin and Percoset and the two
powerful pain relievers worked.

Both drugs also are considered widely abused by young people and
opponents of the medical marijuana law say it would make it even easier
for youths to abuse pot.

"I have six kids who could get in the medicine cabinet," Carroll
said. "The potential for abuse exists but it doesn't mean
marijuana should be illegal."

Opponents of legalizing pot for medical reasons often claim that the
doses can't be determined or managed because pot is smoked and not
taken as an easily-monitored liquid or solid. Opponents also say that
there is no scientific data showing marijuana reduces pain but that it
only makes the person feel euphoric.

Carroll said the arguments are empty when compared with his own and
medical observations.

"Based on my observations, if a doctor says it's effective, we
should pay attention," Carroll said. "I can't get exorcised
that some MS (multiple sclerosis) patient might also get high."

He said the only scientific studies show that THC, a component of
marijuana, is effective in reducing eye pressure for glaucoma sufferers.
But he said it doesn't really matter whether the use of marijuana
provides relief because it attacks the cause or because of the euphoric
effect.

Others argue that pot smoking can damage the lungs, a claim that makes
little sense to someone who has a terminal illness and is in great pain,
Carroll said.

Opponents also cite the experience in California where medical pot has
been legalized and the state has "essentially permitted head
shops" to open, he said.

Those opposing the bill argue that it is just a foot in the door toward
eventual legalization of marijuana for recreational use. They say that
legalizing pot for medicinal use will only make it easier to obtain for
recreational use.

"I find it impossible to believe that it may be easier to get if you
legalized it," said Carroll who said marijuana is the largest cash
crop in the nation, because it is illegal and in demand.

Carroll said legalization of pot for medical reasons will eventually
lead to consideration of further legalizing recreational marijuana. And
he has no problem with such an eventuality. He said the discussion
should focus on the society's failure to control illicit drug use,
the disproportionate costs of law enforcement and the courts to punish
people for possession of marijuana.

"Any rational dispassionate society will entertain that
discussion," he said. "It's the first step toward a
realization that there is no such thing as an evil plant."

A key to the success of a medical marijuana bill would be the federal
government's agreement not to raid and prosecute those who grow
marijuana for medical reasons, he said.

Carroll predicted the bill will eventually be passed but that  won't
likely be up for a vote until after the November elections. He said in
legislative districts with close contests, it will undoubtedly either
become a "demagogic" issue or the candidates will not discuss it
at all.

"In close elections, the instantaneous desire is to hide your head
and lay low," he said.

The Senate bill, S-119, would provide registry cards, authorized by the
state Department of Health and Senior Services, to anyone diagnosed by a
physician as having a "debilitating medical condition." The
conditions are defined as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS or other chronic
debilitating diseases or medical conditions that produce or the
treatment produces wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe
nausea, seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms. The state could
include other medical conditions if officials saw fit.

A patient or caregiver with a registry card could collectively possess
no more than six marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana.

Assembly bill, A-804, is more restrictive. It would allow marijuana use
for seizure disorders including epilepsy, intractable skeletal muscular
spasticity or glaucoma that is resistant to conventional therapy;
HIV/AIDS or cancer patients experiencing severe or chronic pain, severe
nausea or vomiting, cachexia or wasting syndrome; amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) or terminal cancer; and any other condition approved by
the state.

The Assembly bill also would prohibit patients and caregivers from
growing marijuana. Qualified patients would have to acquire the
marijuana from alternative treatment centers as established by the
state.


http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2009/11/20/mt_olive_chronicle\
/news/doc4b047582b3a6a683697979.txt

Red Bluff City Council tables medical marijuana ban


By TANG LOR - MediaNews Group
Posted: 11/20/2009 12:13:23 AM PST



RED BLUFF — The Red Bluff City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to
table an ordinance that would have banned medical marijuana
dispensaries, collectives, cooperatives and cultivation within city
limits.

Councilors gathered in an executive session prior to the open meeting,
reporting City Attorney Richard Crabtree recommended putting the
ordinance on hold due to well-publicized threats of litigation.

He suggested revising the ordinance to allow limited indoor cultivation
consistent with state law. The definition of a dispensary would be
modified to exclude qualified patients and qualified caregivers.

Ken Prather, who owns Tehama Herbal Collective in Corning and a stake in
Mother Earth Medicine in Red Bluff, asked the council to form an ad hoc
committee to help determine how a revised ordinance should be written.

"We're trying to get along and live in harmony," Prather said. "If you
would just stop and listen, I can tell you the whole nine yards of
medical marijuana."

The temporary 45-day ban on medical marijuana remains in effect.


Tang Lor is a reporter for the Red Bluff Daily News.


http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_13831367

Relief, not reefer, is reason for bill


Posted: Nov. 20, 2009

Jim Stingl
In My Opinion



It's nothing more than coincidence that Cheech and Chong are coming to
Wisconsin next week just as a bill to legalize medical marijuana begins
to make its way through the Legislature.

The comedians' "Light Up America" tour celebrates the party-down use of
the psychoactive plant.

That's definitely not what the bill he authored is about, Sen. John
Erpenbach, a Democrat from Waunakee, told me Thursday.

It's time to stop slapping a criminal label on seriously ill people who
benefit from puffing pot as medicine with the blessing of their doctors.

"I think people are saying that medical marijuana being against the law
is kind of ridiculous now," Erpenbach said.

Thirteen states and several other countries have said so. Last year in
Michigan, the law passed in every county, and in the first six months,
the state issued about 5,000 certificates to qualified medical users,
the Detroit Free Press reported.

Gov. Jim Doyle has said he supports the change, and the Justice
Department under President Barack Obama announced it will stop chasing
suppliers and users of state-approved medical marijuana.

That still leaves plenty of people for the police to lock up in the
interminable and expensive war on weed. Erpenbach said he's increasingly
urged by Wisconsinites to go ahead and legalize marijuana for adult use.
He knows this is the slippery slope that opponents of medical marijuana
fear.

For now, all he's talking about is medicinal use.

"We're not talking about everybody here, first of all. Second, we're
talking that you have to get a doctor's note, and the condition you're
dealing with has to qualify," he said.

So far that includes cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, Crohn's disease, hepatitis
C, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and others.

Nonprofit dispensaries known as compassion centers would sell up to 3
ounces of marijuana to qualifying patients, or the patients could grow
up to 12 plants of their own.

This has gotten a little crazy in Los Angeles and Denver, where
dispensaries have sprung up in large numbers, and sometimes with neon
pot leaves in the front windows. Erpenbach said sellers here would be
licensed and regulated by the state, and buyers would have to register.

"It's not like you're going to be walking down State Street in Madison
or walking in downtown Milwaukee and there's going to be compassion
centers or dispensaries every other door. I just don't think that's
going to happen," he said.

The state may want to keep an eye on the reefer marketplace. Some
doctors in California have developed a reputation as an easy yes,
handing out prescriptions to people with any pain, anxiety or difficulty
sleeping.

Medical marijuana is sold under catchy names like Space Queen, Blue
Dream, Purple Urkel and Train Wreck, and health-conscious users are
gravitating toward vaporizers rather than smoking.

It will seem strange at first to have marijuana sold in storefronts
rather than alleys. But the product is more likely to be pure and safe,
Erpenbach said. Doctors already can approve much stronger drugs, and
this would be another form of medicine.

The law prohibits users from driving or operating heavy machinery, and
from smoking at their jobs, on public transportation and at schools,
jails or youth centers, among other locations.

It's a waste of precious jail space to lock up any pot smokers,
especially when you consider that predatory swim coach Daniel Acker was
somehow allowed to be tanning in Florida while he awaits sentencing for
molesting children. Let's keep our focus on the real criminals.

I know, I know: People with a marijuana orientation threaten the
sanctity of the marriage of humans and alcohol. But it's cruel to make
sick people sneak around to get the relief from pain, nausea and other
symptoms when the solution eagerly sprouts from the earth.

A hearing on the bill, which was introduced with 17 legislative
co-sponsors, is scheduled for Dec. 15 in front of the Senate and
Assembly health committees. Erpenback refrained from calling it a joint
hearing.

Policy-makers, he said, are trying to catch up with the high level of
public approval for this change.


Call Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or e-mail at
jstingl@...


http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/70590412.html

Updated: Councilmen boycott pot discussion


By Jonathan Partridge
Last Updated: November 19, 2009 7:22 PM



Three councilmen boycotted a closed session about shutting down a
medical marijuana dispensary because the issues should be discussed in
public, they said. The four council members who did attend the closed
session - which followed an emotional and crowded open session -
unanimously approved a resolution to pursue legal actions to shut down
the collective, which opened without a business license last week.

"I guess I have been led to believe that the city has a rock-solid case
and that there's binding precedent and there's nothing to worry about,
so I am a little surprised that we have anything to hide," said
Councilman Perry Woodward, a property lawyer, who boycotted the closed
session Monday night.

In accordance with Gilroy's year-old open government ordinance, council
members must vote on whether they should transition from open to closed
session. During the vote to do so regarding the dispensary, three
council members - Woodward, Peter Arellano and Craig Gartman - voted
against it. Woodward said that was the first time since the ordinance
was approved that the council had not voted unanimously to do so.

Woodward, Arellano and Gartman were also the minority in a 4-3 vote last
month that would have created a specific ordinance to allow the
dispensary, called MediLeaf.

After Monday's vote, but before the closed session, Gartman told
Woodward that the matters slated to be discussed in closed session
should be discussed publicly, and Arellano happened to be standing
behind them. Gartman and Woodward said that's when they decided not to
attend the private meeting.

"Just because some people want to do something that's wrong doesn't mean
that I need to follow them," Gartman said.

Rather than joining their colleagues for the 30-minute closed session,
Woodward, Arellano and Gartman conversed with attendees in the council
chambers.

Gartman said the council should discuss openly whether MediLeaf was
operating out of compliance with city code. Those issues had not been
discussed publicly, he said Tuesday, and he questioned whether releasing
a resolution that had not been previously agendized violated the Ralph
M. Brown Act, a law governing public access to meetings.

Tom Newton, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers
Association, said Thursday that there is a "pretty broadly worded
exception" for going into closed session for legal matters. That
exception seems to include the council's resolution as well as city code
and zoning issues related to possible litigation against MediLeaf, he
said.

However, the council did not have to discuss those issues in private, he
said, and he found it commendable that council members would want to
discuss them publicly.

Councilman Bob Dillon said it was unfortunate that the three dissenting
councilmen did not attend the closed session because the meeting would
have benefited from their input. While Dillon and Councilman Dion Bracco
both favored the idea of discussing everything in the open at first,
Dillon said he ultimately trusted the city's legal counsel on the
matter.

It would have been unwise to discuss the city's legal strategy in front
of MediLeaf representatives, Dillon said.

Mayor Al Pinheiro said he was shocked when City Clerk Shawna Freels said
that Arellano, Gartman and Woodward were not attending the closed
session.

"Truly, I'm disappointed in this new approach, which is, 'I didn't get
the vote my way, so I'm not showing up,'" he said.

What's the point of voting on whether to go into closed session, he
asked.

"Why not say, 'Whoever wants to show up, just show up?'"

The circumstances in this case were unique, Woodward said. The community
was highly divided on the dispensary and the council was merely deciding
whether to pursue litigation.

"There's some times (in legal matters) when you need to maintain an
element of surprise, but there's nothing here that's a surprise," he
said Tuesday.

Pinheiro said the city will first seek a temporary injunction to enforce
the city's cease and desist order.

City Attorney Linda Callon would not comment on how the city would go
about pursuing litigation. After the open meeting, it was important to
go into closed session to allow council members to learn about various
legal alternatives, she said.

The council's decision came after a lengthy public comment period, in
which more than a dozen attendees, mostly medical marijuana proponents,
petitioned to keep the First Street dispensary open. Several people held
up placards that listed the ailments that they treated with medicinal
cannabis while one person held a sign proclaiming, "Are you going to
drive three hours to get my medicine?"

"This is not candy for hippies," said Richard Diehl, a volunteer at
MediLeaf, who said after the meeting that he has used marijuana
medicinally since the Vietnam War. "You're hurting your own
constituents. Do the right thing."

Dozens of attendees clapped and cheered after MediLeaf advocates spoke,
though Pinheiro had asked people to hold their applause until after
everyone had spoken. A sign that proclaimed "I (Heart) MediLeaf" signed
by dozens of people sat behind where members of the public stood to
speak.

Pinheiro said from the outset that the closed session intended to deal
with the fact that the dispensary opened without a business license and
that comments should pertain to that matter. Still, most speakers
discussed the merits of the dispensary itself.

MediLeaf had tried to obtain a business license on two occasions since
it opened last week, spokesman Eric Madigan said, but it was denied both
times because it did not conform to federal law.

Javier Patterson, who manages the dispensary, said MediLeaf created more
stringent background checks for 18- to 21-year-olds to help better
ensure that those who were using its services really needed medical
cannabis and were old enough to do so. He said the policies were
implemented after some people came by who appeared to be of
"questionable" age.

Meanwhile, Gilroy resident Ron Kirkish, who organized people to oppose
MediLeaf last month, said he felt bad for those with health problems but
felt the council needed to consider the well being of local children.

"I know we're going to possibly spend a lot of money," Kirkish said
about a possible lawsuit between the city and dispensary, "but every
time we have something to deal with, we can't look at how much it's
going to cost us."

Las Animas Elementary School parent club president Lisa Correnti, the
only other person who spoke against MediLeaf, said the city should not
approve a dispensary until there was a way to regulate it.

"I know all of my sign holders are at home, tucking their kids into
bed," she said.

Gartman wondered if the city was singling out MediLeaf.

"What they're saying is, 'I don't like those people,'" Gartman said. "We
have a restriction of trade issue here."

Woodward also questioned whether all nonprofits in Gilroy actually have
business licenses, but city staff verified in a quick check that at
least the most prominent nonprofits, such as Gilroy Gardens and
Salvation Army, did.

Irma Navarro, the city's revenue officer, said Thursday that all
businesses and nonprofits alike must receive a license, although
nonprofits do not have to pay a fee.

Meanwhile, MediLeaf continued to see patients, which they claimed topped
250 people. The dispensary is ready to fight a legal battle with the
city if necessary but would prefer to work out their issues by talking
with the city, MediLeaf director Neil Forrest said Tuesday.

"We are prepared to go that route if need be, but hopefully sound minds
will prevail," he said.

---
Jonathan Partridge covers community issues for The Dispatch, including
City Hall and public safety. Reach him at 847-7109 or e-mail him at
jpartridge@....


http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/261088-updated-councilmen-boycott-pot\
-discussion