|
Medical
Marijuana:
San
Diego
Term
Limits
Initiative
Filed
in
Response
to
Supervisors'
Attacks
on
State
Medical
Marijuana
Law
1/20/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/419/termlimits.shtml
Last month, the San Diego
County Board of Supervisors voted to challenge
California's medical marijuana law in federal court. Now, board
members may be about to pay the ultimate political price for ignoring the
will of the voters. On Wednesday, two county residents, a nurse and
a medical marijuana patient, filed a notice of intent with county authorities
to circulate a ballot initiative setting a two-term limit for supervisors.
Claudia Little, RN, and patient
Rudy Reyes, who uses medical marijuana to treat pain and muscle contractions
from burns he received in the October 2003 wildfires, are being backed
by two national marijuana reform organizations, Americans
for Safe Access and the Marijuana
Policy Project. A third group not linked to drug reform, US
Term Limits, has expressed interest in supporting the move should it
qualify for the November ballot.
 |
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demonstration honoring Steve McWilliams, medical marijuana
provider who took his own life while facing federal prosecution |
|
The supervisors have been
outspoken in their opposition to the state's Compassionate Use Act.
Two months ago, they refused to initiate a state-mandated registry for
medical marijuana patients and providers, saying it would "send the wrong
message" to the county's young people. Last month, in addition to
threatening federal court action to challenge the law, supervisors also
sat by silently as county law enforcement personnel worked hand in hand
with DEA agents to raid every dispensary in the county.
"As a San Diegan and a pain
management specialist, I am appalled that our Board of Supervisors is defying
the will of county voters, and doing it in order to wage a war on the sick,"
said Little. "This initiative is necessary because our supervisors
are dangerously out of control."
"We don't usually get involved
in term limits initiatives, but this situation is extraordinary," said
MPP Legislative Analyst Karen O'Keefe. "We cannot just sit idly by
while the San Diego County supervisors try to deny patients the medicine
that they need, completely ignoring the will of the voters who put them
in office."
MPP must like the numbers
in a poll released last
week. According to that sounding, conducted by the Evans/McDonough
Company, 78% of county voters agreed that "The San Diego County Board of
Supervisors should not be spending taxpayer money suing the state to try
to overturn California's medical marijuana law." Support for a measure
to term limit supervisors was even higher, with 84% saying they would vote
for such a proposal.
They may soon have the chance.
-- END --
|
Issue #419
-- 1/20/06
Feature:
Alaska
Bill
to
Recriminalize
Marijuana
Fast-Tracked,
Passes
Senate
|
Feature:
With
Conservatives
Poised
to
take
Power,
Canadian
Drug
Reform
Ponders
an
Unfriendly
Future
|
Feature:
Swiss
Marijuana
Legalization
to
Go
to
Voters...
Unless
Parliament
Acts
First
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
|
Supreme
Court
Ruling:
Administration
Cannot
Use
Federal
Drug
Laws
to
Block
Oregon's
Assisted
Suicide
Law
--
Attempts
Increased
Pain
Levels
Among
Dying
|
Medical
Marijuana:
San
Diego
Term
Limits
Initiative
Filed
in
Response
to
Supervisors'
Attacks
on
State
Medical
Marijuana
Law
|
Medical
Marijuana:
New
Mexico
Governor
Puts
Compassionate
Use
Act
on
Legislative
Agenda
|
Mothering:
Utah
Appeals
Court
Overturns
Child
Endangerment
Charge
in
Marijuana
Breast-Feeding
Case,
But
Upholds
Law
Itself
|
Marijuana:
"Weeds"
Actress
Mary
Louise
Parker
Wins
Golden
Globe,
Says
"Legalize
It"
|
Europe:
Britain
Will
Not
Reclassify
Cannabis
as
a
More
Harmful
Drug
--
Advisory
Council
Calls
Risk
of
Mental
Illness
"Very
Small"
|
Latin
America:
Colombian
President
Forced
to
Probe
Paramilitary
Influence-Buying
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
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|
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