Locals march for marijuana

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

With occasional puffs of smoke trailing off behind them, a group of more than 100 people marched up State Street yesterday from Stearns Wharf to the County Courthouse to show their support for local medical marijuana dispensaries.
The dispensaries, of which eight remain in the city of a pool that once numbered nearly 20, have come under attack from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in recent months for violating federal drug laws.

However, as far as the State of California and City of Santa Barbara is concerned, the dispensaries are legal.
But with the DEA threatening to seize property of those who rent to dispensaries, many who marched yesterday worry their legal access to the drug could dry up and those who use it could be prosecuted.
Mark Russell, a co-founder of the local medical marijuana dispensary Hortipharm, who organized the march, said he did so to drum up support for the dispensaries and show locals that those who use medical marijuana are not criminals.
He said he would like to see local governmental organizations, like the District Attorney’s Office and Santa Barbara City Council, stand up for local dispensaries when and if the DEA conducts raids, as they have done in other California cities.
“We want to know that our city wants us here,” Russell said. “We want to know: Are we going to be prosecuted for what the state says is legal?”
Since the DEA sent letters to landowners last year urging them to stop renting to dispensaries, the agency hadn’t began flexing its muscles until recently.
According to Russell, DEA officials came to Santa Barbara earlier this month. He said they held a meeting at the District Attorney’s Office, at which the DEA threatened people who rent their properties to cannabis dispensaries with hefty fines, property seizure and criminal charges.
Fearing the DEA may act on its rhetoric, Russell was busy gathering phone numbers from people yesterday so he can text message them if the DEA does raid local dispensaries.
California voters gave a green light to selling medical marijuana legally in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215.
In Santa Barbara, officials have been supportive of the dispensaries, but recently approved a zoning ordinance which primarily targets where and when such a business can operate. The city also passed an ordinance making marijuana the lowest priority for law enforcement officials.
But in the event the DEA rolls into town and aggressively begins shutting down businesses, the city could do little, said Councilwoman Iya Falcone.
“There’s only so much we can do,” she said. “I don’t know that we have the jurisdiction to do anything that interferes with the federal agencies enforcing their federal laws.”
Falcone called the contradicting state and federal marijuana laws a “vexing problem,” and one she wishes the city wasn’t in the middle of.
While Falcone said she personally believes medical marijuana should be made available to those who need it, she wishes the state and federal governments could get on the same page to avoid conflict.
While there’s little doubt conflict exists, there seems to be a wrinkle in the federal government’s opinions on the matter.
Among the protesters yesterday was Eugene, Ore. resident Elvy Musikka, who has received federally sponsored and grown medical marijuana to treat glaucoma for the past two decades.
Musikka, 69, said she is one of four people who travel to Florida a couple of times each year to refill her medicine cabinet. She said the government, through the National Institute on Drug Abuse, issues her three pounds of the drug every five months.
She said the marijuana even comes rolled in cigarette papers, which she re-rolls to her satisfaction.
Prior to becoming a regular marijuana user, Musikka said her eyes required regular surgery. The surgeries were so frequent, Musikka said she couldn’t recall how many times she went under the knife.
What she does know is since she began getting marijuana from the government, she’s had only one surgery. And as far as other ailments are concerned, Musikka’s so healthy she claims to not even own a bottle of aspirin.
“The only medicine I ever take is cannabis,” she said, adding that when she begins to feel sick, she just doubles her dose. “I thank God every day.”
Those who participated in the rally wore T-shirts that said, “I am not a criminal,” on the front, and “No access is not a solution,” on the back.
As participants lined both sides of State Street, they yelled “There is no war on drugs, there is a war on us.”
Aside from being told by a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy they couldn’t smoke on the grass at the Sunken Gardens, the participants steered clear of any brushes with the law.
Russell said he simply wants to be allowed to legally walk into a legitimate dispensary and buy what he needs. He said thousands of people in the city and county want the same, and at this point, there’s no practical reason why the federal government shouldn’t allow it, especially since it’s considered legal on California soil.
“We understand there needs to be regulation,” he said. “But no access is not the solution.”