Novel idea: Use seized pot as medicine

By Eve Mitchell
SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

REDWOOD CITY San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin wants the county to
look into distributing medical marijuana through local clinics that would
get their pot from police busts.

Nevin, president of the board and a retired San Francisco police inspector,
pitched the idea to his fellow supervisors Wednesday in a memo.

Nevin said the marijuana could be obtained at no government cost after it's
used as evidence in criminal trials. It would have to be inspected to make
sure it's not contaminated, as some street drugs are, he said.

At any given time, Nevin said, the Sheriff's Office has about $165,000
worth of marijuana stored in evidence lockers. It is usually burned after
trial.

Nevin thinks the county should consider making the drug available through
countyrun clinics, hospitals and pharmacies to people who have a doctor's
recommendation for medical use of the drug.

He said what now goes up in smoke could be used to meet the medical needs
of a "limited community of people who are either dying or have special
illness" such as glaucoma.

"They're not secondclass citizens we're talking about," said Nevin, who
was a police bodyguard for former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto from
1967 to 1975.

Nevin's idea got a cool reception from the state attorney general's office.

"Once again this would still be a dispensary and we believe they are not
legal" under Proposition 215, said Matt Ross, spokesman for Attorney
General Dan Lungren. He added that as far as he knows, Nevin's idea is the
first of its kind.

Ross said Lungren's interpretation of Prop. 215 is that medical marijuana
can only be grown by someone who is seriously ill and has a doctor's
recommendation for the drug or by that person's primary caregiver.

Ross said the issue of dispensaries is ultimately going to be resolved by
the courts.

"(Prop.) 215 answered one question when people said "yes': It should be
legitimate to use marijuana for medical purposes," said Nevin. "(Prop. 215)
doesn't answer the question of either cultivation or distribution of that
drug. The state of California is showing no leadership or direction."

Fellow Supervisor Tom Huening said he was open to studying Nevin's proposal.

"It's kind of an interesting concept," said Huening. "I think we should
explore Mike's idea. I think it will have some merit. Obviously a lot of
questions would need to be answered."

Nevin said it's conceivable that the county could make medical marijuana
available to qualified individuals at no cost, although pricing issues are
one of several details that would have to be worked out by county officials.

Nevin said he will bring up the issue for discussion at Tuesday's
supervisors meeting.

Nevin came up with his proposal after county supervisors earlier this month
approved a 45day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in
unincorporated areas. The moratorium was enacted to give the county more
time to figure out how to regulate dispensaries and to sort out where they
can be located.

"The transportation and distribution of the drug should be as upfront as
possible and secure as possible," said Nevin. "Who can do that better than
the county?"

When the moratorium was passed, Nevin had suggested that medical marijuana
should be sold through local drugstores like Longs and Walgreens.

"We don't have that avenue," Nevin said Wednesday. "The question is, should
San Mateo County, or any of the state's counties, allow a facility where we
can dispense these drugs?"