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<http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14945.shtml> Cannabis News DrugSense Medicinal Pot Farmers Deputized in Santa Cruz Posted by CN Staff on December 11, 2002 at 09:15:41 PT By Ken McLaughlin, Mercury News Source: San Jose Mercury News medical Valerie and Michael Corral, the founders of a medicinal marijuana farm that was busted in early September, are now Deputy Valerie Corral and Deputy Michael Corral by order of the Santa Cruz City Council. Taking another pot shot at the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the council voted 7- 0 Tuesday to give the Corrals the ``authority to cultivate, distribute and possess medical marijuana.'' The Corrals' attorney, Ben Rice, maintains that the ``deputy'' status allows the Corrals to carry a controlled substance because they are enforcing local drug laws -- in this case, the city of Santa Cruz's ordinance regulating the way medicinal marijuana can be distributed. But the DEA indicated it wasn't amused by the Corrals' new ``deputy'' status. ``No one in the United States is allowed to distribute illegal drugs -- period,'' Richard Meyer, a DEA spokesman, said after the council's vote. Valerie Corral said Santa Cruz is the third city in California to deputize medicinal marijuana providers. One person has been deputized in Oakland and two in San Francisco, she said. Though the council action is largely symbolic, the Corrals carry the official title of Santa Cruz city deputy. Tuesday's action follows a highly publicized pot giveaway on the steps of City Hall on Sept. 17, 12 days after the raid on the farm in the hills near Davenport. The farm was operated by the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, better known as WAMM. The rally and giveaway, attended by six council members and about 1,000 other people, tried to send a message to the federal government that it needs to acknowledge that states should be able to decide for themselves whether marijuana can be used as medicine. No arrests were made, although a mysterious helicopter hovered overhead as politicians, prominent attorneys, physicians and numerous AIDS and cancer patients pledged to prod Washington lawmakers to preserve medicinal marijuana laws. The council acted Tuesday at the request of the Corrals, who are still waiting to see if federal prosecutors will charge them with anything. Their attorneys have advised them that the new ``deputy'' status will help them in their legal battle because it indicates overwhelming community support. ``Democracy is very important to me,'' said Michael Corral, referring to the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, a measure that state residents thought would result in the legal distribution of medicinal marijuana. The federal government, however, has taken the position that states can't allow the possession and distribution of a controlled substance. Meyer said the controversy has not affected the cooperation with the Santa Cruz Police Department, which has been put in an awkward position of having to work with the DEA and ignore its medicinal pot edict at the same time. ``We have great respect for Santa Cruz police officers,'' Meyer said. ``And we are committed to protecting Santa Cruz citizens.'' The Corrals' fight has gained some heavyweight legal help, including Santa Clara University law Professor Gerald Uelmen, a noted constitutional law expert. Only a ``twisted and perverted bureaucrat'' could approve sending in agents with automatic weapons to wipe out WAMM's tiny farm, Uelmen has said. He has joined Rice in a legal effort to force a legal showdown aimed at preserving states' rights on the marijuana front. Since the bust, Valerie Corral said, WAMM has been able to continue to provide marijuana at an undisclosed Santa Cruz location to about 235 members, 83 percent of whom are considered terminal. Three have died since the raid, and one is in critical condition, she said. The marijuana comes from donations. ``We live in an extremely generous community,'' she said. Mike Rotkin, who just returned to the council after a two-year hiatus, said he was upset by national press coverage that portrayed Santa Cruz as the town that wants to ``get everyone stoned.'' WAMM, he said, has been an exemplary organization that has shown it is ``serious about treating terminally ill people.'' Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Author: Ken McLaughlin, Mercury News Published: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 Copyright: 2002 San Jose Mercury News Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites: WAMM http://www.wamm.org/
