Since 1960 Volume 85, Issue 24
Thursday October 15, 2009
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Medicinal marijuana easy to obtain
Veteran benefits delayed By Greg Lehman
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
By Lauren Felechner
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
Aquiring a medical marijuana card nowadays is as easy as making a doctor’s appointment. Dispensaries and doctor’s offices are popping up all over Southern California to help those in need. Just like anything else, there is a method to the madness of receiving a medical marijuana card and where to buy your weed, said Joffran Gonzales, a volunteer in a collective in the Los Angeles area. “A collective is a group of people, including the patients, where everything is donated. There are no transactions. The money is donated from the patients, and the marijuana is grown by the volunteers within the collective, unlike a dispensary,” Gonzales said. The difference between a dispensary and a collective is that there is no salary at the collective for the people volunteering. The marijuana and money is “recycled,” according to Gonzales. Through a dispensary, the employees are able to buy their weed from outside sources, bring it to the dispensary location and sell it to their patients. A similarity between the two is that both locations require a doctor’s recommendation from the patient and identification of some sort, Gonzales added. However, patients like Jody Robinson, a mother of three and a businesswoman in Costa Mesa, visit a dispensary to buy medicine. Robinson, who is going through menopause, suffers from psoriasis, acid gas reflux and a lack of sleep. She sought out a medical marijuana card to ease her pain and help her sleep better. See LICENSE, Page 2
Will a dispenary open in Fullerton? In February 2008, the Fullerton City Council decided to keep medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. To many residents and law officials, this was a mistake, but to advocates of medical marijuana and patients who use the drug, this was an act of compassion. “We made sure that marijuana dispensaries would not be allowed unless we could have some control and regulations because other cities have no rules … that’s where problems come up. With rules it would help litigate, given the circumstances so many people worry about,” said Pam Keller, Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Fullerton. When the recommendations for the specific regulations came back to the council committee, the public became concerned. Police chiefs and older residents spoke out against the dispensaries. Organized groups that rely on the plant for medical purposes spoke for it. The regulation lost the vote with only Keller siding with regualtion. Laurie Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Marymount University, said that cities are more open to marijuana dispensaries because of the revenue it generates and because it helps keep the trade out of the black market.
T D E D I he t o S t INtay connecteTidtan S
Campus drug policy hazy
Photo Courtesy Keith Hyatt
By Nicole Park
Daily Titan Staff Writer news@dailytitan.com
When Eden Gonzalez, 21, first arrived at California State University Monterey Bay, she wanted to take her doctor-prescribed medication. Her resident adviser said “no.” The reason? Her medicine was marijuana. “The biggest problem we were having at CSUMB was the issue with residential life,” Gonzalez said. “Campus police were actually pretty cool, and I’ve had friends whose med-stash was returned after showing medical proof. But with Res-Life, you can have your medical marijuana, but you can’t smoke it, which is the problem.” Because of the dorm rules, Gonzalez had to either give up marijuana or her convenience of living on campus. She eventually moved out of the dorms and into an off-campus apartment nearby. Gonzalez now serves as the executive director of CSUMB’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Gonzalez is one of many students trying to figure out how state, federal and university law applies to the use of medical marijuana. In 1996, California became the first state to allow marijuana for medical use when it passed Proposition 215, The Compassionate Use Act. The new law decriminalized the cultivation and use of medicinal marijuana, cannabis, for ill patients with a doctor’s referral. The guidelines also state that smoking within 1,000 feet of a school is prohibited, unless it is within a residential area. At Cal State Fullerton, police do not get involved with personal medication issues as long as the drugs are prescribed to the student, said Sgt. Nigel Williams of the CSUF police department. The California Health and Safety Code states that medical marijuana is to be used for treating a “serious illness” such as cancer, anorexia, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis and chronic pain, among others. Because “chronic pain” can be linked to many health conditions, the code also allows treatment of “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.” These range from anxiety and insomnia to premenstrual syndrome and nausea. In August 2008, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. released the Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use. In it there are several rules which patients are advised to adhere. The medication must not be consumed at the workplace, any correctional facilities, any place where smoking is prohibited by other laws, in a moving vehicle or motorboat, or within 1,000 feet of a recreation or youth center. Despite the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and the further protection given in 2004 by Senate Bill 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, Cali-
fornia and 13 other states are currently in violation of federal law. The federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was written to minimize abuse of recreational drugs, including marijuana, and bans its manufacture, distribution and possession, making it a federal crime. About 50 medical marijuana dispensaries are operating in Orange County, according to the Orange County Register. The nearest to campus is in Santa Ana. The California Criminal Attorney blog reported that the Fullerton City Council rejected a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, making it one of the few cities to do so. In February, State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced the first bill in the state that proposes legalizing and controlling the production and sales of cannabis. This second marijuana revolution in California might be open for anyone over the age of 21 who is a resident of the state. Ammiano said the law will treat marijuana much like alcohol in its policies. The bill has not been decided upon yet. Other pending legislation include the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, which would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug, a classification that allows for it to be legally prescribed just as any other Schedule II drug. Currently, medical marijuana is merely “recommended” because of its Schedule I classification. Schedule I drugs include GHB, LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. The new classification would put it on the same plane as other widely prescribed pain relievers like morphine and codeine. The most recent development in interpreting the marijuana law occurred on Aug. 25 when the California Senate passed a joint resolution that called for the federal government to stop interfering with California policy. See MARIJUANA, Page 2
Photo Courtesy Keith Hyatt Marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes is displayed in the showroom of Go N’ Green, a medical marijuana dispensary.
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Photo by Todd Barnes/ Daily Titan Photo Editor
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Veteran students guaranteed tuition, books and school supply stipends, and housing allowances were denied their benefits for nearly seven weeks in the 2009 fall semester when the money they were promised did not arrive in their bank accounts, said both veteran Marine Corps infantry sergeant Adam Brzezicki and coordinator for Veterans Student Services at Cal State Fullerton Joseph Chang. The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, originally proposed by Senator Jim Webb (D-Va) gives veterans significant assistance for higher education after they have served at least 90 days of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, according to a fact sheet detailing the bill linked to Senator Webb’s personal Web site. The bill was passed by both Houses and ensures that men and women who have served in the military would receive monetary assistance in their educational goals. Brzezicki, who had served in two combat tours in Iraq as well as serving in Okinawa, Japan, said that some delay was expected, but that waiting more than two months had put him at a serious financial disadvantage. “Two to four weeks is about normal,” Brzezicki said. “The problem is it’s been two and a half months since I first applied, and it’s been about seven weeks since I finished the process of applying. I got my classes certified and everything. Everything also got delayed because of the budget crisis going on at Cal State Fullerton. Since the G.I. Bill pays for all tuition and fees at a school, when the school decided to raise tuition, the contract that we had to go through the school all of a sudden was out of whack because they weren’t paying enough to cover the costs. So, they had to renegotiate the contract and that got everything delayed even further. It’s another problem caused by the fiscal crisis in California and also at Cal State Fullerton.” Carla Ruiz, data control and assistant supervisor of records at the Veterans Services Office at CSUF, said that the campus was not at fault for the extra time it took for veterans to receive their benefits. “It is my understanding that the processing delay was a result of delays from the Veteran’s Administration and not campus related,” Ruiz said. “It is also my understanding that this was a ‘one time’ delay based on this being the first term of eligibility for these benefits.” Chang agreed with the logic that the first time the new bill is put into action will be the most difficult. “This is the one, big-time trouble,” Chang said. “It’s a brand new benefit, and implementation has been very difficult because of the bottle-neck effect. Everybody was waiting, almost everybody who qualified for this benefit waited, and then they all just jumped on the wagon together.” Chang said that an emergency check distribution was enacted the week of Oct. 2 by retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, who was placed as head of Veterans Affairs by President Obama at the beginning of his administration’s term this year. When Shinseki approved the emergency distribution, veterans began to get their checks. See VETERANS, Page 2
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