This just in from
Americans for Safe Access
courtesy of Eric H.
For Immediate Release: August 25, 2008
CA Attorney General Directs Law Enforcement on Medical Marijuana Comprehensive recommendations include protection of dispensaries
Sacramento, CA — California Attorney General Jerry Brown issued long-awaited guidelines on medical marijuana today with support from advocates and law enforcement alike. The guidelines direct law enforcement on how to approach encounters with medical marijuana patients and establish a road map for local police policies. However, more significantly, the guidelines provide recommendations for operating medical marijuana dispensaries in accordance with state law. Specifically, the Attorney General states that, “a properly organized and operated collective or cooperative that dispenses medical marijuana through a storefront may be lawful under California law.”
The guidelines are the culmination of years of work by Americans for Safe
Access (ASA) and other advocates to educate and urge action from the
Attorney General and other state officials. “Today we stand beside the
Attorney General of California in his effort to fully implement the
state’s medical marijuana law,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford. “We
welcome this leadership and expect that compliance with these guidelines
will result in fewer unnecessary arrests, citations and seizures of
medicine from qualified patients and their primary caregivers.” The
guidelines not only provide direction for patients and police, but also
for lawyers, judges and public officials to better understand their
rights, responsibilities, and obligations under state law.
The guidelines firmly establish that as long as patients and caregivers
are abiding by local and state laws, they “should be released” from
police custody and “the marijuana should not be seized.” In the event
that medical marijuana is wrongfully seized from a patient or caregiver,
and the court orders its return, the guidelines state that police “must
return the property.” Affirming that California’s medical marijuana law
is not preempted by federal law, the Attorney General further directs
“state and local law enforcement officers [to] not arrest individuals or
seize marijuana under federal law” when an individual’s conduct is legal
under state law.
Contained within the guidelines is a controversial provision requiring
medical marijuana dispensaries to operate on a not-for-profit basis. This
interpretation of the law comes from California’s Medical Marijuana
Program Act (SB 420), passed by the legislature in 2003. However, while
the voter-approved initiative Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act,
references the need for a distribution system, no mention is made of
for-profit status. In prior discussions with the Attorney General’s
office, ASA had strenuously objected to this provision of the guidelines.
The guidelines come at a time of escalating interference by the federal
government. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and
Department of Justice continue in their attempts to undermine state law
through ongoing investigations, raids, seizures, prosecutions, and
imprisonment of medical marijuana patients and providers. In response,
several California mayors, including Gavin Newsom and Ron Dellums, have
voiced their opposition to House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) and
have called for oversight hearings. “It is now up to Congress and the new
President to align federal policy with California and other medical
cannabis states,” said ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes. “It is time to
resolve the federal-state conflict that serves only to undermine
California and other states’ sovereignty and inflict harm on seriously
ill patients and their care providers.”
For further information:
Guidelines issued today by the California Attorney General:
Attorney General bulletin issued to all law enforcement after the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich:
____________________________________________________________
This article appears in Dreams of Obama.
Now, let the search for loopholes and trap doors begin. There’s far too much potential money to be made for these summary guidelines to have any effect on separating legal pot from illegal pot.
Years ago, visiting Salt Lake City, I had to buy a “club membership” to get a drink at my hotel. After that, I could drink as much as I wanted.
The fundamental weakness of these guidelines is that no one actually vefifies that co-op member personally uses what they get. A real “caregiver” knows for sure what amount of drugs are administered. So, growers will become co-op members(who happen to need many pounds a month for their personal use).
And if anyone thinks accurate records of production will be kept, they’re already stoned. Two sets of books, that’s not too hard to manage. Betcha the official yield per plant will become very low, so lots of plants are will be needed for just a little bit of product.
Oh, I see, Pot suppliers must be non-profit. but the companies that drug the country with thousands of substances, which have horrible effects, can make all the profit they want. and to top it off, the U.S. Taxpayer pays all the research and development cost for those companies; who then gouge people who can’t live without these substances.
And of course, we have also paid millions and millions of dollars to study pot and its effects, but none of that will be published until the Federal Government gets the result it wants.
It’s all fun and games for now, but at some point I expect the Government to Nationalize all law enforcement; most of whom will be happy to join, and then declare ‘Zero Tolerance’ on any plant, herb or spice that is not sold through an approved supplier. ADM, MERC, Smith-Kline.
This would work very well for a government looking to further destroy those who would dare break any rules, or judge the merits of something on their own.
They should be non-profit. Otherwise they’ll lobby lawmakers with fistfuls of cash to make it illegal for people to grow it themselves.
Better Business Bureaus’ WISE GIVING ALLIANCE
STANDARDS FOR CHARITY ACCOUNTABILITY
#8.)
This section of the standards seeks to ensure that the charity spends its funds honestly, prudently and in accordance with statements made in fund raising appeals. To meet these standards, the charitable organization shall:
Spend at least 65% of its total expenses on program activities.
Formula for Standard 8:
Total Program Service Expenses / Total Expenses
= should be at least 65%
Take full expenses for a coop shop (what ever you want to call it) and multiply by .65 this will give you the target BBB dollar amount for compliance.
An organization that does not meet this measure or standard may provide evidence to demonstrate that its use of funds is reasonable.
If a coop makes is not within compliance one might want to look at how they can be “helped” to become into compliance. Just filing as a non-profit means nothing with out some ‘check’ for compliance for accountability’ we all know of non-profits who’s board of directors make huge salaries. The top non-profits in the nation only rate between 17 and 30% on the above ‘test of compliance.’
Here’s everyone’s favorite in print: http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/3-financially-bloated-american-cancer-society-fails-to-prevent-cancer/
ACS at 17% to programs 83% to management!
AG’s guidelines: Last page last paragraph NOTE:
2. Indicia of Unlawful Operation: …(c) failure to follow local and state laws applicable to similar businesses, such as maintenance of any required licenses and payment of any required taxes, including sales taxes, …
What has gotten up my knickers for some time now is that every other ‘business’ has standards of production. But we always here from many of the MMJ group, “oh this is different” or “P215 doesn’t say anything about that!”
Every other herb produced has standards for its production. When you walk into any store or shop, you have what is called in Labor and Industrial Law as “reasonable expectations.”
Reasonable Expectation that it was produced in a clean environment free from cross contamination with a living area (Anything that is home manufactured must come up to these standards.) People involved with the manufacture were paid legal wage, and proper taxes were with held from their pay checks and worked in a clean safe and ADA approved environment.
Let alone that it was done in a ‘dedicated work space’.
Lets not talk MMJ lets talk about any other herb; basil, rose hips, ginco, standards of production exist for them, growing, harvesting, drying, cleaning, packaging. All this is eluded to in the above “follow local and state laws applicable to similar businesses”
What is good enough for Moon Rise Herbs or Safeway, Wildberries, the Coop or any other store that sells herbs (medical or other wise) should be in place with MMJ. There is a whole other set of standards that is ignored constantly by too many of the producer and providers of medical cannabis.
You can NOT produce anything else at home for public consumption, bake cup cakes, or grow herbs, for people not of your own home. Why is this suddenly “okay” for the Medical Cannabis world? I believe the AG guidelines also open all this up!
nice to see you are all over the Douglas/Zanotti dismisal…
God i wish you guys were a real newspaper instead of the advocacy rag you turned out to be.
nice to see you are all over the Douglas/Zanotti dismisal…
God i wish you guys were a real newspaper instead of the advocacy rag you turned out to be.
mmmm twice is nice