The assertion that
all medical marijuana is headed for seriously ill patients is misleading.
Statistics from the California Branch of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) shows that a survey of Californians
reports the top three reported uses of medicinal marijuana:
40% Chronic
Pain
22% AIDS-Related
15% Mood Disorders
(23% All other categories)
In California there
is no state regulation or standard of the cultivation and/or distribution
medical marijuana. California leaves the establishment of any guidelines
to local jurisdictions, which can widely vary. For example, Marin County
allows up to six mature plants, and/or a half-pound dried marijuana. It's
neighbor, Sonoma County permits possession of three pounds of marijuana,
and allows cultivation up to 99 plants, and physicians may recommend more
for "exceptional patients."
Local and state
law enforcement counterparts cannot distinguish between illegal marijuana
grows and grows that qualify as medical exemptions. Many self-designated
medical marijuana growers are, in fact, growing marijuana for illegal,
"recreational" use.
Elected law enforcement
officials, i.e. Sheriffs and District Attorneys in California have been
targeted by the "marijuana lobby." Political action by groups
such as NORML have endorsed and supported candidates favorable to medical
marijuana. NORML tracks local elections and takes credit for the defeats
of anti-marijuana candidates. Last year the DEA arrested a major marijuana
trafficker in Humboldt County who was an undeclared candidate for sheriff.
The DEA and its
local and state counterparts routinely report that large-scale drug traffickers
hide behind and invoke Proposition 215, even when there is no evidence
of any medical claim. In fact, many large-scale marijuana cultivators
and traffickers escape state prosecution because of bogus medical marijuana
claims. Prosecutors are reluctant to charge these individuals because
of the state of confusion that exists in California. Therefore, high-level
traffickers posing as "care givers" are able to sell illegal
drugs with impunity.
The California
NORML website lists federal defendants for the largest indoor marijuana
cultivation operation in the U.S., which occurred in Northern California,
as "green prisoners." While unscrupulously claiming to be "medical
marijuana" defendants, in fact these two individuals were dangerous,
armed fugitives believed to be responsible for drug-related murders and
other violence.
DEA's San Francisco
Field Division coordinates the statewide Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression
Program (DCE/SP). The number of plants eradicated and assets seized represent
the largest totals in California history.
