MEDICINAL POT LAWS HAZY FOR AUTHORITIES

One thing is clear about California's medicinal marijuana law -- how
unclear it is to those who enforce it.

"This is all new," said Cmdr. Don Patterson, who heads the Santa
Barbara County Sheriff's narcotics unit. "The real challenge is
trying to understand the law and how it applies in real life and on
the street."

That challenge was put to the test earlier this month when sheriff's
narcotics detectives raided a Mission Hills home after getting a tip
that the person living there was growing and selling marijuana.

The lengthy search and seizure on Dec. 8 was unusual for the
Sheriff's Department. The search stretched for 12 hours -- double
what a typical raid would last. A good portion of the time was spent
combing through documentation that would back up Danielle DiSimone's
assertions that she was growing marijuana for medicinal purposes. Ms.
DiSimone was allowed a visit by an attorney while the raid was in
full swing, unheard of in typical pot busts.

In the end, detectives left behind 30 plants out of 112 and some
growing equipment. Detectives said they confiscated 8 pounds of pot
leaves and 2 pounds of marijuana buds. Ms. DiSimone was booked for
cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.

The 50-year-old former Marine, who is expected to enter a plea in the
case on Monday, called the raid at her Montrose Place home a "witch hunt."

Ms. DiSimone says she grows marijuana for medicinal purposes, for
herself and for other clients, and keeps detailed records of her
patients, including more than 70 letters of recommendation from their
physicians. Ms. DiSimone also has a marijuana patient identification
card, she said, because of chronic pain she suffers from an injury
she received while in the Marines.

During the raid, detectives called patients to verify that she was
their primary caregiver. Of the 74 letters found by investigators, 43
were considered not valid because patients lived in other counties.
Another 25 letters were disqualified because they were more than a
year old, according to the Sheriff's report. Of the remaining six
patients, detectives were able to reach four who qualified as
"current" patients, the report said.

Under state law, patients and caregivers with a doctor's
recommendation letter may possess up to 8 ounces of dried marijuana
and grow up to six mature plants or 12 sprouts.

Detectives weren't satisfied that Ms. DiSimone was a legitimate
caregiver, at least not for the amount of pot she was growing.

Ms. DiSimone says she was complying with the law and says her patient
list is much more extensive, but she did not want patients' names in
the hands of authorities.

"It's this type of thing that patients fear the most, losing their
privacy," said Ms. DiSimone. "Most people don't want others to know
what medications they use."

The bust comes as law enforcement officials find themselves caught in
a web of federal, state and local laws and by a range of attitudes
about marijuana.

California's Proposition 215, which voters passed in 1996, allows
patients with a doctor's recommendation to grow, possess and use
marijuana for medical reasons. Meanwhile, federal law doesn't
recognize any legitimate use for marijuana, so it remains outlawed
alongside other so-called Schedule 1 drugs like PCP, LSD and Ecstasy.

In the middle of this federal-state tussle, identification cards,
which are not mandatory, let local law enforcement officials know
medicinal marijuana users are in legitimate possession of the drug.
Caregiver cards identify individuals who grow marijuana and sell it
to patients.

Ms. DiSimone claims she tried numerous times times to apply for a
caregiver card but was given conflicting instructions. A caregiver
must apply in person with the patient. There is currently no limit on
the number of patients a caregiver can have.

Some public health officials, marijuana advocates and law enforcement
officials agree that the caregiver designation is murky.

"It's not really clear, not a black-and-white law," said Cmdr.
Patterson. "We're still trying to figure out the nuances. When we run
into someone who is a caregiver, we do everything we can to make sure
that we're following the law."

Joshua Braun, who opened the cannabis club HortiPharm five months
ago, says he has nearly 1,250 patients, some of whom live out of the county.

"My attorney is of the opinion that Proposition 215 does not say you
can only be a local caregiver," said Mr. Braun. "I accept patients
out of the county; I would have to turn away patients."

There currently is no language in the state law on dispensaries or
cooperatives. Local governments are left on their own to decide how
to deal with them.

In the city of Santa Barbara, there are at least four pot clubs and
cooperatives, including the Compassion Center of Santa Barbara
County, the Santa Barbara Patients Group and HortiPharm. Santa
Barbara city police have so far left them alone.

In Lompoc, the city council adopted a different approach, and banned
pot clubs for two years.

"It's just an awkward situation and just not a good system" said
William Brown, Lompoc's police chief and president of the California
Police Chiefs Association. "Basically, we don't want a plethora of
people hanging out a shingle saying we're a marijuana dispensary."

Ms. DiSimone sees the recent raid as a blow to her clients, who she
says don't have any where else to go.

She also claims she was singled out by detectives. In a search
warrant affidavit dated Dec. 6, Detective Troy Marino notes that he
saw Ms. DiSimone at La Cumbre Plaza and recognized her from a 1993
arrest for growing marijuana. She pleaded out to cultivation of
marijuana and served time under house arrest.

Ms. DiSimone says there is no way the detective could have recognized
her as the person he arrested years earlier -- at that time she was a
man. The former Michael DiSimone underwent a sex change operation in 2002.

"Would you recognize me?" asked Ms. DiSimone, holding up an old
wedding photo of himself in a suit with his fourth bride. "This raid
is just a Gestapo (tactic) and malicious."

As local marijuana advocates and law enforcement officials interpret
the law and set up their own guidelines, they will likely be facing
another hurdle next month.

The Public Health Department wants to pass its responsibility for
issuing ID cards to the state as early as February. So far, the
county has issued 362 patient and 22 caregiver cards.

If the Board of Supervisors approves the move, scheduled for a vote
today, law enforcement officials would need to rethink how they
handle ID cards from residents living outside of the county.
Currently, local authorities use the county's database to verify the
legitimacy of a card, and those from outside the county aren't in the system.

"With the changeover to the new system, we'll have to change how we
handle everything and learn the new program all over again," said
Cmdr. Patterson.