Pot Law Will Be Followed, Lungren Says

While vowing to narrowly interpret the state’s new medical marijuana law, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren told California police and prosecutors Tuesday that they should not expect the federal government to more strictly enforce U.S. rules against the use of pot.

Lungren met with 300 county prosecutors, sheriffs and police chiefs in an effort to work through the uncharted terrain of Proposition 215, approved by voters Nov. 5, which legalizes marijuana in California for medical purposes.

One day after federal drug officials said during a congressional hearing in Washington that they were exploring ways to work cooperatively with state and local law enforcement to seize marijuana and make arrests, Lungren expressed doubts that such help will come.

“We should not look to the federal government for a solution,” said Lungren, a foe of Proposition 215. “While we should hope for help, and continue to press for federal action, it is probably not coming--or at least it is not coming soon.”

Fearing a rise in drug abuse, state and federal officials have been grappling since election day with ways to rein in use of the proposition, in part by seeking greater enforcement of federal laws prohibiting the possession and sale of marijuana.

Lungren said he and other prosecutors and law officers should attempt to follow the state’s new law, but interpret it narrowly.

“The voters have spoken. We must now act responsibly to carry out this law, as the voters intended,” Lungren said in a written statement. “We must realize voters meant that marijuana should be used only as an occasional exception, for someone who is seriously suffering and under the direct supervision of a physician.”

He added that the voters did not intend to “start this state down the slippery slope” toward the full legalization of marijuana.

Lungren said he planned to push for legislation next year to restrict the use of medical marijuana in the workplace, particularly for bus drivers and operators of heavy equipment who could put the public in danger.

He also wants to see regulations on the use and cultivation of pot to ensure that it is only for medical purposes.

Under the new law, a physician must “affirmatively recommend” marijuana to a patient, not just “rubber stamp” its use, Lungren said. He also suggested that the new law does not open the door for the sale of pot for medical use, an interpretation that could hamstring the rebirth of “buyer’s clubs” to distribute marijuana.

A spokesman for Americans for Medical Rights, the group that pushed Proposition 215, suggested that Lungren has begun softening the rigid stance he took before election day.

“There is a world of difference between wanting a narrow interpretation and refusing to accept any medical value for marijuana,” said Dave Fratello, a spokesman for the group. “There are elements of concession here, even amid the fighting words. Our hope is to have him on board for as much of a legislation push [on how the proposition should be interpreted] as possible.”