MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAMPAIGN FOUNDERS.Byline: Jim Herron Zamora San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. Supporters of legal marijuana for the seriously ill are asking two top leaders in San Francisco's Cannabis Buyers' Club to withdraw from the campaign for passage of Proposition 215, which would legalize le·gal·ize tr.v. le·gal·ized, le·gal·iz·ing, le·gal·iz·es To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law. le the drug's medical use. State narcotics agents' Aug. 4 raid on the club brought to the surface tensions between its founder, Dennis Peron, and others campaigning to legalize medical marijuana. Peron and his group, Californians for Compassionate Use compassionate use Pharmacology The use of an agent to treat Pts for whom conventional therapies have failed, or for whom no other drug exists; CU refers to the use of an agent on humanitarian grounds before it has received regulatory–FDA–approval , worked to get Prop. 215 on the November ballot but have been eclipsed by Santa Monica-based Californians for Medical Rights. ``We're asking Dennis to step aside for the good of the effort,'' said Bill Zimmerman of Californians for Medical Rights, which the state has recognized as Prop. 215's official sponsor. ``There are a lot of people involved in this with a lot of respect for what he has done in the past,'' Zimmerman said last week. ``But some people around the state have gotten very impatient with Dennis about lax admissions practices.'' State narcotics officials who raided the Market Street club seized more than 150 pounds of marijuana, about 400 plants and $60,000 in cash. They allege that the club, which distributed marijuana to alleviate the symptoms of people with AIDS The People With AIDS (PWA) Self-Empowerment Movement was a movement of those diagnosed with AIDS and grew out of San Francisco. The PWA Self-Empowerment Movement believes that those diagnosed as having AIDS should "take charge of their own life, illness, and care, and to minimize and other diseases, has sold the drug to minors and undercover agents, and got a temporary injunction temporary injunction n. a court order prohibiting an action by a party to a lawsuit until there has been a trial or other court action. A temporary injunction differs from a "temporary restraining order" which is a short-term, stop-gap injunction issued pending a shutting it down. Peron has not been charged with a crime. Supporters of medicinal marijuana say it can stimulate the appetites of people suffering from the AIDS-related wasting syndrome Wasting syndrome A progressive loss of weight and muscle tissue caused by the AIDS virus. Mentioned in: AIDS wasting syndrome and ease nausea in cancer patients. Opponents say the drug has no medical value and that its use can lead people to harder drugs. Peron has maintained that he is the chairman of the Prop. 215 campaign, though Californians for Medical Rights is the group in charge of putting together ballot arguments for the measure. On Tuesday, however, Southern Californians for Compassionate Use asked Peron and John Entwhistle to resign as officials of Californians for Compassionate Use and drop out of the Prop. 215 campaign. They accused Peron and Entwhistle, the group's treasurer, of mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. and of failing to take responsibility for the buyers' club collapse. Entwhistle said Tuesday that the strife originated with a small group of people with personal and strategic disagreements. ``None of their criticism is valid,'' Entwhistle said. ``They are nice enough guys, but their contributions are not very positive.'' The ``real enemies' of medical marijuana, he said, are right-wing politicians and law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is a term used to describe any agency which enforces the law. This may be a local or state police, federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). led by Attorney General Dan Lungren, who oversees the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and opposes Prop. 215. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion