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VOLUME 49, ISSUE 22

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016

WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG

UC SYSTEM

THE GUARDIAN’S BEST OF 2015

SAN DIEGO

ART BY JENNA MCCLOSKEY /GUARDIAN

SeaWorld Sues State for Whale Breeding Ban

WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BEST 11 FILMS, TV SHOWS, SONGS AND ALBUMS OF 2015 WERE? SORRY, WE ONLY HAVE TEN. READ AND DEBATE WHETHER THE GUARDIAN GOT IT RIGHT OR WRONG. SECTION, PAGE 6

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

overview of ucsd reforms

According to the park’s legal representatives, the California Coastal Commission has no jurisdiction over killer whales. BY lisa chik

‘UC Quits’ Program Offers Smoking Cessation Resources BY Josh Lefler

opinion, Page 4

WINTER SEASON PREVIEW TEAMS TO WATCH THIS QUARTER SPORTS, Page 12

FORECAST

THURSDAY H 59 L 53

SATURDAY H 59 L 54

FRIDAY

H 59 L 52

SUNDAY

H 61 L 51

The UC healthcare system will play a larger role in helping students kick their smoking habits through the new initiative, UC Quits. The program aims to bring care providers into the smoking-cessation process by creating a shared network between UC healthcare centers and a UCSD-based anti-smoking helpline, according to a Dec. 29 press release. UC Quits is piloted by UC Davis’s Dr. Elisa Tong and the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at UC San Francisco. Originally started in 2013 by Dr. Tong, the program now extends to UCSD, UCLA and UC Irvine, covering all five UC campuses with major healthcare systems. Smokers who visit UCSD’s medical center will be given an electronic referral to the UCSD-based California Smoker’s Helpline at the patient’s discretion. The helpline offers free counseling and strategy planning to help patients rid themselves of their smoking habits. According to the UC Quits website, this helpline nearly doubles the chance of quitting. This referral system is the first of its kind for smokingcessation programs, according to SCLC project director Roxana Said. “UC Quits is different than any other anti-smoking

initiative due to the patient-centered approach and integration of a bi-directional e-referral system with the California Smokers Helpline,” Said told the UCSD Guardian. Normally, care providers suggest helplines to those patients who want to quit smoking. However, patients tend not to make the initial call for a variety of reasons, according to Tong. “People’s lives are busy, and they forget to call,” Tong told the Sacramento Bee newspaper. In addition to referrals, doctors now have full access to progress notes during the helpline sessions under UC Quits. This will allow care providers to actively participate in their patients’ progress, according to Said. “[Under UC Quits], healthcare providers can more effectively access services in referring patients to ensure that smokers get the treatment they need to successfully quit smoking,” Said explained. Though UC Quits has been integrated into UCSD’s main medical center, the program has not been introduced at the Student Health Center, according to the center’s Director of Health Promotion Deborah Pino-Saballett. “UC Quits is primarily a resource for providers working in a hospital and medical center setting,” Pino-Saballett told

See SMOKING, page 3

VERBATIM IN THE WORLD OF CAPITALISM, THE UNITED STATES IS KING. BUT THERE IS A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN THREATENING THE OLD WORLD ORDER. CHINA’S RISE WAS FAST, BUT ITS DOWNFALL, OR AT LEAST ITS STOCK MARKETS’, COULD BRING EVERYONE DOWN.”

- Marcus Thuillier

ACROSS THE GLOBE OPINION, PAGE 4

INSIDE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE ... 2 SAVE THE CHE ................ 4 RAY AT NIGHT ................. 9 CROSSWORD/SUDOKU.. 10 W. WATER POLO ............ 12

GOVERNMENT

City Officials Discuss Local Cannibis Regulation Conversations began after the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act took effect. BY MARIA SEBAS

In light of new state medical marijuana legislation, San Diego may explore the legalization of medical marijuana cultivation within city limits. On Dec. 28, Deputy City Attorney Shannon Thomas issued a memo to Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the City Council describing various ways in which the city could regulate marijuana cultivation. The memo references the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act, which consists of three different pieces of legislation and was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 9, 2015, taking effect on Jan. 1, 2016. Director of Communications at the Office of the City Attorney Gerry

Braun told the UCSD Guardian that these three pieces of legislation are the state’s efforts to clarify the initiative that legalized medical marijuana more than a decade ago. “It was adopted by the voters and the state did nothing to try and help out the people in understanding how exactly it would be implemented by the local jurisdiction,” Braun said. Braun continued to explain that the legislature passed this set of bills last year in an attempt to create for marijuana what restrictions the state has for alcohol, such as requiring distribution licenses. “As part of the effort to regulate the medical marijuana industry within California, the [legislature] established that the state would be the primary government entity responsible for licensing the growing of medical

marijuana,” Braun said. In the memo, Thomas describes the three Assembly Bills that make up the act. The most comprehensive of these is Assembly Bill 266, which provides for the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana by a newly created Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation within the Department of Consumer Affairs. In addition, the bill requires licensees to have all medical marijuana products tested before distribution. The act also exempts qualified patients who do not engage in “commercial cannabis activity” from licensure requirements. Another feature of the act is that it gives local jurisdictions, such as the City of San Diego, the opportunity to develop their own regulations. See MARIJUANA, page 3

SeaWorld filed a lawsuit challenging the California Coastal Commission’s stipulation that bans the San Diego theme park from breeding captive orcas last Tuesday. The commission endorsed a $100 million expansion of SeaWorld’s killer whale tanks last October but included a ban on breeding and transferring the animals. The park’s attorneys argued that the California Coastal Commission cannot incorporate a clause prohibiting breeding since it does not have authority over SeaWorld’s orcas. “This last-minute ‘no breeding or transfer’ condition is unprecedented, and it is plainly illegal for one very clear reason: The Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction … does not extend to the care, breeding or transport of the SeaWorld orcas because the orcas are not, in any way, part of the coastal or marine environment,” SeaWorld’s complaint stated. “All of SeaWorld’s activities with respect to the care, breeding and transportation of orcas occur onshore in the orca pools and not in the marine environment and are specifically governed by federal law.” Public Information Officer of the California Coastal Commission Noaki Schwartz told the UCSD Guardian that the agency cannot comment directly on the lawsuit, but “the commission stands by its decision in October to protect killer whales.” Director of Animal Law at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Jared Goodman argued that the lawsuit is a waste of taxpayers’ money, the court’s time and the California Coastal Commission’s resources. “The Coastal Act gives the commission power to protect the coastal resources of California including marine resources and marine animals,” Goodman told the Guardian. “The Coastal Commission is right to ban orca breeding as a condition of SeaWorld’s new tanks and acted fully within its authority under state law in doing so.” SeaWorld’s complaint, filed with the Superior Court of the State of California, includes information about its breeding program’s compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act as well as the Animal Welfare Act of 1970. “SeaWorld is strictly regulated by the federal government, with frequent random inspections by federal veterinarians and other officials,” a statement released by the park affirmed. “The company passes strict licensing requirements every year and is accredited by organizations including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.” Staff Research Associate at Scripps’ See WHALES, page 3


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