LUNGREN IGNORES THE SICK AND DYING

As the fight over medicinal marljuana moves deeper into our court system
now that the state's 1st District Court of Appeals ruled cannabis clubs
have no legal right to distribute the controlled substance, those who have
benefited the most from Proposition 215 could be quickly forgotten.

While the pro and con sides conduct their legal wrangling, cancer and AIDS
patients who find real relief in smoking pot for ailments ranging from
nausea to muscles spasms are about to be left out in the cold.

State Attorney General Dan Lungren has argued successfully in court that
cannabis clubs do not serve as "primary caregivers" those the proposition
deem to distribute it but he has done nothing to fill the void if indeed
the clubs are shuttered permanently.

Only San Mateo County has pursued some resolution by studying the
feasibility of distributing confiscated marijuana at its health
facilities. Instead of just proclaiming that cannabis clubs are wrong and
illegal, the county has looked for a more acceptable alternative to
applying a law approved by the voters. Too bad our state officials don't
display such leadership.

Instead Lungren forever now on the gubernatorial campaign path holds
steadfastly to the idea that Proposition 215 should never have come to be,
despite overwhelming support at the ballot box and mounting health studies
finding medicinal benefits of marijuana.

The problem with Proposition 215 Is that the distribution of marijuana has
never been clearly addressed. Cannabis clubs like the propositions crusader
Dennis Peron's in San Francisco claim to operate on a nonprofit basis where
remuneration only covers the club's production process. Peron also is right
in saying that it's hard to imagine terminally ill patients cultivating
their own marijuana, much less waiting months for their plants to come to
harvest. Instead they will be purchasing pot from the streets, putting
their safety at an obvious risk.

But where is the state's leadership? Well, it's in court, trying to
suppress the proposition rather than thinking about the medical benefits
resulting from a puff or two of pot. It's not surprising Lungren wants to
change the entire proposition's legality, but to do nothing in the
meantime in terms of supplementing the work of cannabis clubs is coldly
turning his shoulder to the sick and the weak.

And if there have been abuses by those hardly considered "sick and weak,
they have been outweighed by gaunt AIDS and cancer patients who are finding
it easier to eat, sleep and gain weight thanks to marijuana.

As California voters have come to know all too well, the voice of the
people falls on deaf judicial ears. Lungren can shut down the clubs in 30
days. We hope he uses this time to think about the consequences and
alternatives ways to establish "primary caregivers" for the distribution of
medicinal marijuana. Proposition 215 won't go away.