GLORIA PENNER (Host): This week a group of marijuana activists filed
to have an initiative placed on the 2010 ballot that would legalize marijuana in the state.
Marijuana use for medical purposes has been legal in California
since 1996, following the passage of Prop.
215. But the increase in the number of medical marijuana dispensaries
in California cities is worrying some officials.
Joining us to talk about this developing story is KPBS health reporter Tom Fudge,
and welcome to the show, Tom.
I'm glad you could be with us.
TOM FUDGE (Reporter): Good to be here.
PENNER: Alright, some local officials are reporting an increase
in medical marijuana dispensaries right here.
Why is that happening?
FUDGE: Well, the primary reason I would say is that in February, about five months ago,
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made a very dramatic statement when he said
that the U.S. Justice Department was no longer going to go after and arrest providers
of marijuana who were within state law.
In other words, California and a few other states allow medical use of marijuana
and the attorney general said we're not going to prosecute those people
if they're producing marijuana for medical uses.
And as a result of that some local lawyers started getting a lot of calls from people
who said how do I set up a marijuana dispensary,
and right now there's an estimated 60 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city of San Diego.
PENNER: What are the operating guidelines for these dispensaries?
How does that work?
FUDGE: Well that's very complicated because when Prop.
215 was passed there were very few operating guidelines.
They essentially said you could use medical marijuana, you could cultivate it,
but they didn't really say whether it could be sold,
what kind of an organization would be able to produce it.
And so as a result of that there's been some additional legislation,
there have been some state attorney general guidelines which essentially say
that if you want to produce and give out medical marijuana,
you have to have a cooperative, a cooperative arrangement.
And the medical marijuana can only be given to people within that cooperative.
Sales to people outside of that cooperative are still illegal based on state law.
PENNER: So actually the law may be unclear, but there is some law on this - FUDGE; Oh yeah.
PENNER: - which is interesting to hear because some cities, like Chula Vista and National City,
they have put more torrim on new dispensaries.
FUDGE: Yes they have.
They've essentially said time-out.
This is happening very fast since the Eric Holder comments,
and they want to make sure they understand the law and the rules,
and they want to make sure they create dispensaries that are not going
to be nuisances in their communities.
PENNER: Then there's an assumption that medical marijuana works.
FUDGE: Well, it's a fact based on some pretty extensive studies,
some of which have been done here at UC San Diego studying pain in AIDS patients,
pain and cramping, what they call spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis.
But those studies have been very limited.
At the same time some medical marijuana dispensaries have told potential clients, oh,
well if you have a sore neck use marijuana, if you've got stress use marijuana,
if you've got asthma marijuana might help.
And those are claims that are being made really with no proof that I know of.
PENNER: You know there was always concern among people, opponents of medical marijuana,
this would open the door for legalization of marijuana
and now indeed there's a ballot measure thats being prepared to legalize marijuana.
Periodically this comes up.
What's the reasoning behind legalizing it?
FUDGE: Well the reasoning people who support legalization of marijuana say that there is
so much violence from the drug cartels that's associated with the sale of marijuana.
If we legalize it maybe that will go away.
Now critics say that's not true.
But proponents say that it will reduce violence
and also the state would be able to tax the sales of marijuana.
PENNER: Money.
FUDGE: And make a lot of money that would go to our very beaten budget.
Now the only problem with legalizing marijuana in the state of California based
on state law is marijuana sales are still illegal based on federal law.
And even though Eric Holder has said, well if it's medical marijuana we will leave that alone.
You can go ahead and do that.
I'm not sure the attorney general would say the same thing if marijuana is legalized
in California for all uses, including recreational use.
PENNER: What about our California voters?
I mean, do we have any polls that indicate how they feel about legalizing marijuana?
FUDGE: Well polls seem to indicate there was a recent Field Poll,
and Field Poll is a very prestigious poll in California, Field Poll said that more
than 50 percent of people polled said that they would favor legalization of marijuana.
Now, I think we know from other experiences that its one thing to get more
than half of people in a poll to say yes.
It's a different thing to get more than half of people in an election to say yes.
And so just because the Field Poll says, oh 53 precent of people are in favor of legalization,
it doesn't mean its going to happen in the election.
PENNER: And what we'll have to see is whether they get enough signatures
on the initiative in order to petition.
But at that point I'm going to have to say thank you very much, Tom Fudge.
FUDGE: Well, you're welcome.
PENNER: Thank you for being with me.