PROPOSITION 215: Medical Marijuana Law To Be Tested In San Diego
In what is expected to be the "first test of Proposition 215" in the area, the San Diego District Attorney "charged two local club leaders with marijuana offenses yesterday." The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that at least one of the defendants, Steven McWilliams, "plans to use the 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana law as his defense." James Silva, McWilliams' lawyer, said, "My client is a medical marijuana patient who uses cannabis under the provision of the health and safety code. He has a physician's recommendation for marijuana use. We are going to win." McWilliams, who is "a founder the North County Cannabis Cooperative ... was charged with transporting and cultivating marijuana" after being arrested for having "11 marijuana plants in his van." He claimed "he was delivering them to a man suffering from paraplegia." The other man, Dion Markgraff, was charged "with selling marijuana to an undercover detective ... even though he was aware that the detective did not have a doctor's recommendation, which is required under Proposition 215."
Not On Your Life!
The Union-Tribune reports that "[p]rosecutors said they are confident that Proposition 215 will not protect either man," because of the state Supreme Court's recent affirmation of a lower court decision that commercial enterprises cannot "furnish marijuana as a 'primary caregiver.'" Deputy District Attorney Dave Songco said, "Cannabis clubs, or the mass distribution or possession of marijuana is illegal. ... These cannabis clubs do not constitute caregivers because they don't consistently provide for the health and safety of a patient" (Thornton, 3/12).