gina our automated mom reminds all: pain compliance is a wonderful teacher
31/10/2009
gotweed
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| Medical Pot: Don’t Forget the Pain |  |
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My Turn
By Diana L. Chapman
On the marijuana front – it’s so strange to say that because in my lifetime I never thought I’d be defending its use – I received e-mails from Santa Barbara to Arizona.
Defending pot was not one of my priorities – until I got sick. Now I understand the need and chided two of our Los Angeles attorneys, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and the County District Attorney Steven Cooley last week for spending a fortune to start to seize and shut down outlets claiming they were illegal operations under federal law – even though the state has approved it. Those who emailed ran the gamut, complaining that dispensaries handed out marijuana willy-nilly or others contended it should be legalized to cut down on illegal sales in the brutal drug world.
Both points are valid.
So I need to make this clear – I only defend the herb’s legalization for medicinal reasons which I wrote about in one of my earlier CityWatch column. I know what it means to be attacked by a chronic illness and why some would want to use the herb to reduce debilitating symptoms that box them around daily.
President Barack Obama last week unofficially told federal prosecutors and agents to back off the dispensaries that are legally dispensing under state laws.
Meanwhile, our local attorneys continue to wage a campaign against the number of pot outlets, somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 plus in Los Angeles County – and are working to shut them down. I argued that they need to be concerned about those who need it. Santa Barbara resident Sharon Byrne e-mailed that “You missed the point why they are cracking down.”
A few emails later, we realized that somewhere in the middle lies the truth. For Sharon, an endless number of such dispensaries opened in her area and what’s driving her crazy are the youth bringing pot to school, telling administrators that it’s legal. Some are hanging out at dispensaries.
“Clearly, our dispensaries are not all about serving compassionate intent,” she wrote.
“We had a ‘marijuana mile’ march here three weeks ago, and we walked past seven dispensaries within one mile. At one of the dispensaries, the people working there littered the sidewalk with pro-pot flyers, and handed them to the kids and marchers as we passed. I thought it odd that they didn’t mention compassion, or the number of patients with dreaded diseases they’ve helped. No, they were simply pushing pot, and it is this I have a problem with.
“It’s unfortunate, but in the case of Los Angeles, and here in my hometown of Santa Barbara, dispensaries that promote recreational use do bring crime to their area,” she added. “There were 16 armed robberies at dispensaries in Los Angeles last month, and an armed extortion at a dispensary here. Cities are correct in watching out for their residents and nearby businesses if dispensaries opening in their vicinity cause issues.”
My Long Beach friend reported the opposite reaction to two marijuana outlets, that took over run-down liquor stores that often brought crime to her neighborhood. The marijuana dispensaries opened, fixed up the buildings and cleaned up the neighborhood, she said. As far as she concerned, it was refreshing.
The legalization of the drug makes complete sense, if you ask one Los Angeles attorney, who worked as a former probation officer. It’s the only way, he believes, to win against the mafia and gang members who sell these drugs underground – and make a fortune.
He further debated the wasteful spending that goes into prosecuting those caught with marijuana.
The attorney, who asked not to be named, currently represents a homeless man who had less than .06 of an ounce of marijuana – which was prescribed to sooth his mental illness. To prosecute him, the city ran up charges of $10,000, which points out the futility, the attorney said, when the real war is with the illegal drug trade.
“I only have two criminal cases right now,” he emailed. “One is a drug case for .06 ounces of hash for a schizophrenic homeless person who had a medical Marijuana letter. The city and county has spent over $10,000 on this case if you add up the time of the courts, the Twin Towers, the DA.”
He added he was pleased that Los Angeles Judge James C. Chalfant struck down the city’s ban on new medical marijuana centers last week, citing that the city used an expired ordinance and failed to follow state laws.
“It is nice to hear that some law enforcement officers realize that the income from drugs benefits organized crime,” he continued. “Gangs like MS-13 are no longer mere gangs as we know gangs. They are international crime syndicates, and Carmen T wants to help them keep their drug profits high.
When push comes to shove, Carmen T places his time and energy into supporting the profits of organized crime and does nothing to help kids. Make no mistake about it. LA’s new war on pot will have one definite effect — protecting the profits of organized crime.”
On one side of the coin (Oh, I love clichés), we are in the year 2009 – and conservatives need to accept that this plant has improved the life of those struck down with diseases. On the other side, eager entrepreneurs and those interested in having a free-for all use of the drug for fun need to get their feet planted firmly to the ground.
We need to make it a law that marijuana can only be used with a legal prescription to fix the current blurry lines of the laws that exist. Currently, a person only needs only a letter of recommendation.
Trutanich and Cooley undergoing this war seems extraordinary considering the scores of much uglier issues that Los Angeles faces, such as foster children being murdered. Where are those attorneys to protect those children? I want to know.
To top it all, one resident in Arizona wrote thanking me for the defense for those who are ill.
”Thanks for such an insightful look into the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes,” the writer emailed, asking not to be identified. “As a two-time cancer treatment patient, (once in 2001 and again in 2007) I don’t think anyone has any idea what we go through with the nausea thing.
“This last time around, surgery was not an option for me so the cancer had to be eradicated solely with chemo and radiation. It wasn’t pleasant considering the tumor was at the base of my tongue. My entire mouth, tongue, gums, throat and cheeks were burnt and swollen. I lost almost 60 lbs.
We don’t have to mention pain, do we?”
(Diana L. Chapman was a journalist for 15 years with the Daily Breeze and the San Diego Union. She can be reached at
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