Responding to a recent federal crackdown on medicinal cannabis dispensaries, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution supporting “regulated and safe patient access” to medical marijuana, Nov. 1.
District 9 Supervisor David Campos, who introduced the resolution through a special meeting of the City Operations Committee, said that the federal government has no business interfering with dispensaries made legal under the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, also known as “Prop 215.”
“The voters here in the state of California have spoken loud and clear that they believe in the right of patients to have access to medical cannabis,” Campos said. “We have seen in the last few weeks a very troubling development with respect to the approach of the federal government. We have seen the federal government that, contrary to its prior promises, is now disregarding state law and in the process, really hurting so many patients that rely on the access to medical cannabis as a way of treating their illnesses.”
While the Department of Justice insists that their policy concerning medical marijuana has not changed, many advocates, like Marijuana Policy Project Communications Manager Morgan Fox, see the upsurge in federal action as a violation of what they view as a campaign promise by President Obama.
“The Obama administration has the ability to call down this crackdown,” Fox said. “The simple fact is that [prohibition] is using a large amount of tax dollars and it doesn’t even do what it’s been put in place to do… We’re seeing record-high levels of marijuana use, despite record-high arrests.”
When word of the crackdown started to spread, patients and advocates who felt blindsided by the sudden shift in policy decided to protest the president’s recent fundraising visit to San Francisco Oct. 25.
Cannabis patient Jim Mix uses marijuana for cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis C and psoriasis, and said that he relies on the natural relief he gets from cannabis because his liver cannot handle the harsh chemicals of pharmaceutical drugs.
“One of the reasons I started was my weight had dropped to 143 pounds and I’m six-foot-three. I couldn’t keep anything down – no appetite,” he said. “[Before Prop 215] you’d have to rely on your local dealer, whether it’s at work or the 7-11. The quality was never what it is today and you had to take what you got.”
He added that the dispensary system made it possible for him to get specific strains for treating certain conditions, something impossible before the passage of Prop. 215.
It remains to be seen what, if any, impact the resolution passed by eight of eleven Supervisors will have on the federal enforcement effort, but Board President David Chiu said it is a step in the right direction.
“Medical marijuana dispensaries are providing safe access to treatment options that many Californians depend on to live a comfortable, pain-free life,” he said. “With its recently announced ‘crack down’ on these dispensaries, the federal government has proposed a solution in search of a problem.”