Marijuana Prescription Protection
S.F. panel OKs measure to shield some doctors

Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco public health doctors who prescribe marijuana
for their patients would be defended against possible
federal prosecution under a resolution approved yesterday by
a Board of Supervisors committee.

If the measure gets approval from the full board and Mayor
Willie Brown, San Francisco would be the first county in the
state to take such a stand, sponsors said.

The measure was necessitated by November's statewide passage
of Proposition 215, which authorized doctors to recommend
marijuana to their patients. The federal government refuses
to sanction such legal use of marijuana, and has threatened
physicians with prosecution or possible loss of their
medical licenses if they suggest pot.

In San Francisco, Proposition 215 got almost 79 percent of
the vote, the highest percentage from any of California's 58
counties.

The Cannabis Cultivator's Club in the city has been busy
since the election, said founder Dennis Peron. Just
yesterday, it served about 400 customers who came in with
prescriptions, he said.

Peron estimated that about 25 percent of those who come in
were referred by doctors employed by the city Public Health
Department.

Dr. Mitch Katz, the department's director of community
health and safety, said the city employs about 100 doctors
who could recommend pot at community health centers, at
San Francisco General Hospital and at Laguna Honda Hospital.

``We believe our physicians should recommend or not
recommend medical marijuana in the best clinical interest of
their patients,'' Katz told the supervisors' Health, Family
and Environment Committee. The panel passed the measure
unanimously.

The only point of discussion came from the city attorney's
office, which wanted the supervisors and the department's
doctors to be aware that by passing the resolution the city
might incite federal authorities to prosecute doctors
involved.

Katz said the department was aware of that risk, but still
wanted the measure.

So far, no California doctor has been prosecuted for
recommending pot under Proposition 215. In February, the
Clinton administration conceded that doctors can discuss
medical marijuana with their patients but can't actually
recommend it. A group of doctors in the state is suing the
federal government for the right to recommend pot.

A9 The Chronicle Publishing Company