Santa Cruz Legalizes Cannabis if its Organic!
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ar...ST0322.DTL
Santa Cruz pot ordinance allows medical marijuana without prescription
MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Breaking News Sections
(03-29) 02:21 EST SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) -- Sick people who think marijuana will improve their health can now spark up legally in Santa Cruz -- even without a doctor's prescription.
The Santa Cruz City Council gave unanimous approval Tuesday to a new ordinance modeled on an Oakland law that was successfully defended in court.
"This is the compassionate thing to do," said City Councilman Mike Rotkin, who cosponsored the ordinance, expected to take effect in early May.
The law says that people who are being treated for cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine headaches "or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief" will be allowed to grow and use pot.
The ordinance specifies that the marijuana must be organic.
The lack of a requirement for prescriptions is a way to get around federal laws that ban doctors from prescribing pot. Doctors risk losing their medical licenses if convicted.
In 1996, state voters -- including 74 percent of those in Santa Cruz -- approved an initiative allowing medicinal marijuana.
But medical marijuana clubs in Santa Cruz and a handful of California cities that opened after the 1996 law's passage were soon shut down by the U.S. Justice Department under federal anti-drug laws. Since then, several cities have passed ordinances to try to implement the state law.
In Santa Cruz, city attorney John Barisone and former O.J. Simpson defense attorney Gerald F. Uelman helped shape the new ordinance to withstand federal challenges.
"The federal government has placed us in this huge contradiction," said Rotkin. "It's insane."
More than 100 residents -- many with AIDS and cancer -- came to the City Council meeting to offer support and testify. Local Chamber of Commerce and law enforcement officials also support the law.
"I look forward to a future where people who use this herb to stay healthy will not be targeted anymore," said Theodora Kerry, a longstanding local proponent of medical marijuana and industrial hemp, which is banned because of its similarity to marijuana.
Mimi Carroll, who has lost all her hair during chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer, said drinking marijuana in a milk form helps her with nausea, pain and emotional stress.
"People think we just want to sit around and smoke dope, but that's not what's going on," she said. "We're talking about very sick people receiving legal medication that helps them feel better."
The ordinance requires city officials to recognize membership cards for a medical marijuana provider association as well as certificates given to growers of medical marijuana.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ar...ST0322.DTL
Santa Cruz pot ordinance allows medical marijuana without prescription
MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Breaking News Sections
(03-29) 02:21 EST SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) -- Sick people who think marijuana will improve their health can now spark up legally in Santa Cruz -- even without a doctor's prescription.
The Santa Cruz City Council gave unanimous approval Tuesday to a new ordinance modeled on an Oakland law that was successfully defended in court.
"This is the compassionate thing to do," said City Councilman Mike Rotkin, who cosponsored the ordinance, expected to take effect in early May.
The law says that people who are being treated for cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine headaches "or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief" will be allowed to grow and use pot.
The ordinance specifies that the marijuana must be organic.
The lack of a requirement for prescriptions is a way to get around federal laws that ban doctors from prescribing pot. Doctors risk losing their medical licenses if convicted.
In 1996, state voters -- including 74 percent of those in Santa Cruz -- approved an initiative allowing medicinal marijuana.
But medical marijuana clubs in Santa Cruz and a handful of California cities that opened after the 1996 law's passage were soon shut down by the U.S. Justice Department under federal anti-drug laws. Since then, several cities have passed ordinances to try to implement the state law.
In Santa Cruz, city attorney John Barisone and former O.J. Simpson defense attorney Gerald F. Uelman helped shape the new ordinance to withstand federal challenges.
"The federal government has placed us in this huge contradiction," said Rotkin. "It's insane."
More than 100 residents -- many with AIDS and cancer -- came to the City Council meeting to offer support and testify. Local Chamber of Commerce and law enforcement officials also support the law.
"I look forward to a future where people who use this herb to stay healthy will not be targeted anymore," said Theodora Kerry, a longstanding local proponent of medical marijuana and industrial hemp, which is banned because of its similarity to marijuana.
Mimi Carroll, who has lost all her hair during chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer, said drinking marijuana in a milk form helps her with nausea, pain and emotional stress.
"People think we just want to sit around and smoke dope, but that's not what's going on," she said. "We're talking about very sick people receiving legal medication that helps them feel better."
The ordinance requires city officials to recognize membership cards for a medical marijuana provider association as well as certificates given to growers of medical marijuana.
