Suetaz

Santa Cruz County OKs new law on medicinal pot

By Ken McLaughlin | Mercury News | Oct. 6, 2004

Deciding that state law doesn't properly shield medical Marijuana users, Santa Cruz County supervisors Tuesday unanimously passed an ordinance that allows each medicinal user to possess up to three pounds of pot.

The weight limitation applies only to the most potent part of the plant: dried cannabis buds. Stems and seeds don't count.

If sold by the ounce -- the traditional method -- the Marijuana would have a street value of up to $24,000. Under the new law, qualified patients will be allowed to exceed the yearly 48-ounce limit, if a doctor approves.

A crowd of about 30 county residents -- most fighting AIDS, cancer and other diseases -- cheered the decision, hugging one another as tears streamed down their faces.

"We have 4,000 seriously ill patients in the county who also have had to live with the added fear that they could be arrested,'' said Andrea Tischler, co-owner of Santa Cruz's Compassion Flower Inn, which allows guests to smoke medicinal pot.

Only a handful of California counties -- including Humboldt and Sonoma -- have taken similar actions despite a state law carried by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, that took effect Jan. 1. Trying to expand Proposition 215 -- the 1996 pro-medical-pot ballot measure overwhelmingly passed by Californians -- Vasconcellos' legislation set the "default threshold'' at eight ounces but gave counties discretion to exceed that amount.

Mark Tracy, Santa Cruz County sheriff, this year decided to let physicians, not law enforcement officers, set the local threshold. The county's new law is modeled after guidelines developed in Sonoma County, said Dr. George Wolfe, a former county health officer.

[Suetaznote: Kudos to Mark Tracy for having the sense to do what is right. Law enforcement has no business setting medical guidelines.]

Wolfe said three pounds of processed pot works out to 3.7 Marijuana cigarettes a day.

In September 2002, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a medicinal pot farm near Davenport. Valerie and Michael Corral, co-founders of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, WAMM, became local heroes to many.

Outrage from local residents and politicians resulted in a handout of medicinal Marijuana on the steps of Santa Cruz City Hall, as six of seven city council members watched and a DEA helicopter circled above. Now, Santa Cruz County is home to the only legal Marijuana garden in the country after a federal judge allowed WAMM to replant its pot garden, pending a decision from a higher court.

Last year, county supervisors decided to issue identification cards to residents who had a doctor's prescription to use Marijuana. Valerie Corral said only a few hundred people have gotten the IDs, but she hopes the new law will encourage more to apply.

Enrico Mellone, who uses Marijuana to treat cancer and Crohn's disease, said he was caught by a Santa Cruz police officer who later profusely apologized for bothering him. He was later stopped by a California Highway Patrol officer in Aptos. "After he saw the card, he told me to have a nice day,'' Mellone said.

[Suetaznote: This is good news, I hope this attitude with law enforcement continues to spread. ]

Excited about the new law, which takes effect 31 days after final passage, Mellone said, "I've had to go to Oakland to buy Marijuana for $450 an ounce -- and it wasn't even any good.''

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