California Taskforce On Prop
215 Reportedly Recommends Registration System
To Protect Patients Against Rogue Law Enforcement
(Marijuananews note: Attorney General Lockyer
and Senator Vasconcellos are keeping the lid on the proposal even though hearings are
scheduled for next week on July 13. This is a very strange way to do things, and the
result has been a wave of speculation on what the bill actually says. Although this
bill may be ultimately be necessary, the real reason for this proposal is that too much of
California law enforcement has placed itself above the law. This is a problem with
implications that go far beyond the medical marijuana issue.
See
LA Judge
Ignores Both Prop 215 And The 1st Amendment:
Not Only Convicts Patient, But Also Orders Him Not to Talk About Medical Marijuana
As A Condition of Probation
I hope to have a complete analysis soon of the "the 16-page draft that committee
members supported at their last meeting.")
See
More Unequal
Injustice In California;
Raids on Medical Marijuana Supplies Hurt the Sick and Dying
From The San Francisco Chronicle
July 6, 1999
www.sfgate.com
Draft of state’s report on medical marijuana recommends registry
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Medical marijuana users should be registered
and be required to carry identification cards to avoid arrest, a committee of law
enforcement officials, doctors and advocates told the Los Angeles Times.
The Medical Marijuana Task force, appointed in March by state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer,
also recommends that the state develop regulations to allow groups of patients and
caregivers to grow marijuana, according to Monday’s Times.
See
California Medical
Marijuana Task Force Organized By Lockyer Pushes Ahead
The 20-member task force was formed by Lockyer to determine how best to implement
Proposition 215, approved by voters in 1996. The measure said people could grow and use
the illegal drug for medicinal purposes with a doctor’s permission, but does not
specify how it might be accomplished legally.
Then-Gov. Pete Wilson opposed the law, and the U.S. Justice Department last year won a
court order to shut down most of the state’s cannabis clubs for violating federal
laws against marijuana distribution.
About 10 cannabis clubs currently defy federal law and distribute pot to people who
suffer from ailments including cancer, AIDS and spastic muscle conditions.
See
In San Francisco More
Clubs Spring Up to Fill Need
Left By Closing Of Peron’s Club
Task force members said the proposed recommendations would allow such clubs to function
openly, the Times reported.
The statewide registry would protect medical marijuana patients with special photo
identification cards. Similar programs are already in place in Mendocino County and the
Northern California town of Arcata.
The task force’s final report has not yet been released and some of the wording is
still being reviewed. The newspaper obtained a copy of the 16-page
draft that committee members supported at their last meeting.
State Sen. John Vasconcellos hopes to introduce an Assembly bill based on the
committee’s final recommendations.
"We feel very confident that this is a very solid product," said Rand Martin,
a Vasconcellos aide who attended committee meetings. Martin would not discuss particulars
of the proposals, which he said Vasconcellos and Lockyer hope to unveil in the next two
weeks.
Some lawmakers have also refused to comment, saying that they are
waiting for the committee’s final draft.
Gov. Gray Davis has not taken a position on the issue because no bill has been offered,
spokesman Michael Bustamante said.
Supported