©1997 San Francisco Examiner

Arcata, Marin try new medical pot policies

Plans allow patients to register and be certified by police, health department

Michael Dougan
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

One town and one county in Northern California are trying a new way to deal
with medical marijuana certifying the customers who need it.

In less than a month, Marin County supervisors will likely approve a way to
accredit patients who can benefit from marijuana, said County Health and
Human Services Director Tom Peters.

Two months ago, the town of Arcata, in Humboldt County, started a similar
program, administered directly by the police department.

Until now, most local governments grappling with the new medical marijuana
laws in the wake of Proposition 215 have focused on trying to regulate
cannabis clubs.

Peters said the Marin program to be debated by county supervisors Oct. 21
would require individuals to request certificates from his office, which
would then contact the prescribing doctor for independent verification.

"To my knowledge, this is a rare if not unique focus," said Peters. He said
the objective was to issue certificates verifying "that indeed this
individual has a confirmed illness for which marijuana is a part of the
treatment plan."

Chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists and other medical personnel licensed
by the state would also be eligible to endorse the patient's need for pot,
said Peters.

He said he expects the plan, presented by Supervisors Steve Kinsey and John
Kress, to be approved by the full board.

The Arcata program went into operation two months ago. So far, fewer than
10 patients have signed up for certificates, said Police Chief Mel Brown.

"They have to be associated with the local health clinic or live in town,"
he said. "The process is that somebody comes in and tells me they think
they qualify. I contact the doctor and, through a secret investigative
process, I make sure I'm talking to the doctor and not the janitor."

Brown said patients don't need to reveal what their disease is, and their
certification card does not contain their name, but only an identification
number that officers in the field can check by contacting the dispatcher.

Noting that Prop. 215 declares medical need to be a defense in court
against charges of marijuana possession, he said, "I pushed this one step
forward and made it defensible at the local level, not the judicial level .
. . That way we don't have to take medicine away from somebody who needs it."

Brown said county supervisors have appointed a commission to consider
implementing a similar plan at the county level.

"I want to get this out of my hands and put it in the hands of public
health officials; that's been my goal here for several months," he said.

Marsha Rosenbaum of the Lindesmith Foundation, a drug policy think tank
with offices in San Francisco and New York, applauded both efforts.

"That sounds so sane and so simple," she said.

She said a panel formed by San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan
discussed taking similar steps, "but we couldn't figure out who would give
out that piece of paper. The department of public health wouldn't agree to
do it."