See
New Oakland
Policy Would Permit Patients To Have One And Half Pounds Of Medical Marijuana OAKLAND,
Calif. (Reuters) - Marijuana advocates praised the city council in Oakland Wednesday after
it approved one of most liberal medical marijuana measures in the country by allowing
patients to keep 1-1/2 pounds of the drug for "personal use."
"This a landmark move," said Jeff Jones, head of the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers’ Club. Oakland is across the bay from San Francisco.
See
Under Jeff Jones, Oakland Buyers
Club Endures In Spite of Troubles Elsewhere
"Oakland is the first city in the country to adopt guidelines which will allow
medical patients to possess and cultivate the medicine they need."
The Oakland City Council late Tuesday approved a policy directing police not to target
individuals or confiscate their marijuana if it falls within guidelines set by the city.
Those guidelines, the broadest set down since California voters
in 1996 approved a state law allowing medical use of marijuana, say patients with a valid
doctor’s prescription may keep 30 outdoor marijuana plants, 48 indoor plants or 1.5
pounds of bulk marijuana.
Oakland officials say the amounts were intended to allow patients
a three month supply of marijuana and were established on the basis of U.S. Food and Drug
Administration tests on the drug that ration users to ten marijuana cigarettes per day.
California Attorney General Dan Lungren, a staunch opponent of medical marijuana, has
set his own guidelines for permissible amounts of the drug—two plants or one ounce ,
an amount he says should be enough for 30 days.
See
Lungren Sued For
Thwarting Prop 215; Suit Asks State To Allow Counties And Cities To Distribute Medical
Marijuana
and
The Libertarian
Orange County Register Editorializes Against Lungren’s Attacks On Medical Marijuana
And Prop 215
Lungren spokesman Matt Ross said Wednesday that these guidelines should be sufficient.
"We just hope that law enforcement would do the right thing when stopping an
individual with a pound and a half of marijuana," he said.
(Ed. note: Oh, so do I!)
Oakland’s move came as the federal government continued its legal drive to close
down marijuana "clubs" that have sought to act as supply centers for the drug
after the 1996 state law passed. See
DEA Agent Busted
By Jeff Jones At Oakland CBC – A Report From Steve Kubby
Government lawyers, saying the clubs violate federal laws
forbidding the distribution of dangerous drugs, filed a motion with a U.S. District
Court judge in San Francisco Tuesday asking for authority to send U.S. Marshals to close
four northern California medical marijuana clubs.
The federal government also filed motions demanding the clubs demonstrate why they
should not be held in contempt of a preliminary injunction that ordered them to cease
operations—an order the clubs have so far ignored. See
Federal Judge To
Issue Injunction Against Clubs;But Does Not Foreclose "possibility of a medical
necessity defense"
Hearings on the contempt motions will be held Aug. 14.
^REUTERS@
Supported