Santa Cruz: The Pot Spot?
(Not featured online, or the nice picture.I stole it.8)
Santa Cruz Good Times
www.gdtimes.com
mailto:gtsc@cruzio.com
May 24, 2001
New federal marijuana ruling will have little effect on local users
Most folks in Santa Cruz don't seem very concerned about the local impact of last week's Supreme Court decision banning the use of medical marijuana. In fact, the majority seems to think the effect will be negligible.
"Initially, it won't have a lot of effect," said former Santa Cruz mayor Mike Rotkin. "The legislature needs to stop being completely irrational. It makes no sense that doctors can prescribe morphine and not marijuana."
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision makes it virtually impossible to provide marijuana to seriously ill patients without running afoul of the federal government. This decision overrides California's Proposition 215, passed in 1996, which permitted the use of medical marijuana by sick and dying patients. But Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed, writing :marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception."
Locals involved in this fight to legalize medical marijuana find flaws in Thomas' statements. Valerie Corral, the executive director and founder of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a group providing marijuana to the seriously and terminally ill patients, has been involved in the fight to legalize medical marijuana for the past decade. In fact, she co-authored the local ordinance requiring medical marijuana recipients to carry identification cards. She knows the benefits that pot provides, and has used it to treat her grand mal epilepsy since the mid '70s. Corral says that of all the medications she has tried, nothing helps control her seizures in the same way, allowing her to lead a normal life.
"This is a government that refuses access to the sick and dying. It is an outrage," said Corral.
Aside from personal experience, she sees the benefits marijuana provides to the more than 200 members of WAMM. She also sites studies done by GW Pharmaceuticals, an influential and respected British company that researched the effects of marijuana inhalers for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. These studies were so successful that the inhalers will be available by prescription to patients in England and France in 2003. The United States may be years away from this kind of access to medical marijuana. While eight states passed bills similar to California's Proposition 215, these are now overridden by the Supreme Court's decision. Many acknowledge there is a risk of the federal government asserting its power, but few in Santa Cruz expect this to happen. As Corral said. " The Federal Government would look quite foolish dragging away 200 terminally ill people."
In Santa Cruz, the local law enforcement doesn't plan to run out and arrest all the medical marijuana recipients either. Sheriff Mark Tracy told the Santa Cruz Sentinel, "That is just not going to happen. Our priority will continue to be large-scale criminal growing operations." People using marijuana supplied by organizations like WAMM, or folks who grow their own for medical use will remain unaffected.
"As long as there is evidence of medical necessity, they will look the other way," said Rotkin, after meeting with the Sheriff, police department officials and the district attorney. "I don't think there is a court in the county that will convict if medical necessity is proven."
For a complete edition, find one of 700 free drop sites within the county, or subscribe by mail. E-mail us at gtsc@gdtimes.com, call us at (831) 458-1100, fax to (831) 458-1295 or write to GOOD TIMES, P.O. Box 1885, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1885. First-class subscriptions are available for $85/year or $2 per issue.
WAMM - Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana - www.wamm.org/
WAMM
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...ogoBlk.jpg
COLOR AND TEXTURE COLLECTION
MARIJUANA AS ART
by Jean Hanamoto
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...chor541930
Cannabis Art
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...hor2123285
Inside the Remote Farm That Supplies WAMM
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=75.topic
Santa Cruz Pot Ordinance Allows Medical Marijuana www.cannabisnews.com/news...5221.shtml
Med. Marijuana Crime in O.C. but not in Santa Cruz
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5392.shtml
Santa Cruz Legalizes Cannabis if its Organic!
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=65.topic
Declaration of Arnold Leff, M.D. Santa Cruz, CA
www.drugsense.org/CCUA/97..._Leff.html
Bed Bud and Breakfast
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=79.topic
SC Industrial Hemp Expo
www.cruzexpo.com
Pacific Hemp
www.pacifichemp.com
Pan World Traders
(800) 973-HEMP
Hemp from Transylvania
www.panworldtraders.com
Eco Goods
1130 Pacific Avenue,
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (831) 429-5758
www.ecogoods.com
Hemp
www.ecogoods.com/Clothing...jeans.html
(Not featured online, or the nice picture.I stole it.8)
Santa Cruz Good Times
www.gdtimes.com
mailto:gtsc@cruzio.com
May 24, 2001
New federal marijuana ruling will have little effect on local users
Most folks in Santa Cruz don't seem very concerned about the local impact of last week's Supreme Court decision banning the use of medical marijuana. In fact, the majority seems to think the effect will be negligible.
"Initially, it won't have a lot of effect," said former Santa Cruz mayor Mike Rotkin. "The legislature needs to stop being completely irrational. It makes no sense that doctors can prescribe morphine and not marijuana."
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision makes it virtually impossible to provide marijuana to seriously ill patients without running afoul of the federal government. This decision overrides California's Proposition 215, passed in 1996, which permitted the use of medical marijuana by sick and dying patients. But Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed, writing :marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception."
Locals involved in this fight to legalize medical marijuana find flaws in Thomas' statements. Valerie Corral, the executive director and founder of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), a group providing marijuana to the seriously and terminally ill patients, has been involved in the fight to legalize medical marijuana for the past decade. In fact, she co-authored the local ordinance requiring medical marijuana recipients to carry identification cards. She knows the benefits that pot provides, and has used it to treat her grand mal epilepsy since the mid '70s. Corral says that of all the medications she has tried, nothing helps control her seizures in the same way, allowing her to lead a normal life.
"This is a government that refuses access to the sick and dying. It is an outrage," said Corral.
Aside from personal experience, she sees the benefits marijuana provides to the more than 200 members of WAMM. She also sites studies done by GW Pharmaceuticals, an influential and respected British company that researched the effects of marijuana inhalers for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. These studies were so successful that the inhalers will be available by prescription to patients in England and France in 2003. The United States may be years away from this kind of access to medical marijuana. While eight states passed bills similar to California's Proposition 215, these are now overridden by the Supreme Court's decision. Many acknowledge there is a risk of the federal government asserting its power, but few in Santa Cruz expect this to happen. As Corral said. " The Federal Government would look quite foolish dragging away 200 terminally ill people."
In Santa Cruz, the local law enforcement doesn't plan to run out and arrest all the medical marijuana recipients either. Sheriff Mark Tracy told the Santa Cruz Sentinel, "That is just not going to happen. Our priority will continue to be large-scale criminal growing operations." People using marijuana supplied by organizations like WAMM, or folks who grow their own for medical use will remain unaffected.
"As long as there is evidence of medical necessity, they will look the other way," said Rotkin, after meeting with the Sheriff, police department officials and the district attorney. "I don't think there is a court in the county that will convict if medical necessity is proven."
For a complete edition, find one of 700 free drop sites within the county, or subscribe by mail. E-mail us at gtsc@gdtimes.com, call us at (831) 458-1100, fax to (831) 458-1295 or write to GOOD TIMES, P.O. Box 1885, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1885. First-class subscriptions are available for $85/year or $2 per issue.
WAMM - Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana - www.wamm.org/
WAMM
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...ogoBlk.jpg
COLOR AND TEXTURE COLLECTION
MARIJUANA AS ART
by Jean Hanamoto
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...chor541930
Cannabis Art
www.garlic.com/~artworks/...hor2123285
Inside the Remote Farm That Supplies WAMM
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=75.topic
Santa Cruz Pot Ordinance Allows Medical Marijuana www.cannabisnews.com/news...5221.shtml
Med. Marijuana Crime in O.C. but not in Santa Cruz
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5392.shtml
Santa Cruz Legalizes Cannabis if its Organic!
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=65.topic
Declaration of Arnold Leff, M.D. Santa Cruz, CA
www.drugsense.org/CCUA/97..._Leff.html
Bed Bud and Breakfast
pub3.ezboard.com/fendingc...D=79.topic
SC Industrial Hemp Expo
www.cruzexpo.com
Pacific Hemp
www.pacifichemp.com
Pan World Traders
(800) 973-HEMP
Hemp from Transylvania
www.panworldtraders.com
Eco Goods
1130 Pacific Avenue,
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (831) 429-5758
www.ecogoods.com
Hemp
www.ecogoods.com/Clothing...jeans.html
