Santa Rosa West
Rotary Club

Santa Rosa, California

BULLETIN

Monday, December 16, 1996

The Meeting:

President Bill Gittins brought the meeting to order with his usual meeting number, which we lost track of……….

Ginny Pitts led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Joe Perez lead us in prayer and visitors were introduced by Ray Mattison.

Announcements:

Bill Gittins announced that Mike Moore (right) has donated $5,000 for vocational scholarships. Very nice, Mike!

Mark Decker said that five corporate tables had been booked for the Crab Feed. Corporate tables go for $300 and have special premium wine served. So, hurry, hurry! We are dark for the next two weeks but that doesn't mean you can't make plans, call in your booking and make your donation.

Phil Talamantes announced that seven nights accommodations at Lake Tahoe had been donated. Are you a bidder?

Carl Anderson announced that the Preschool building would be arriving Tuesday. It will make a dramatic entrance aboard nine trucks. It has been assembled by G. V. Contractors of Healdsburg. The unit will be disassembled for travel and reassembled on site. This should be quite a spectacle, gawkers are welcome! Work will be completed in about three weeks. Carl thanked the club for their generous support of the Preschool project.

Craft Talk:

Tom was raised mostly in Napa Valley. He made a career in law enforcement before switching to accounting. He's had his own business in Santa Rosa for the past ten years and specializes in tax law. He teaches at Golden Gate University. His hobbies are Martial Arts (he was on the US Judo Team) and Scuba Diving. Scuba diving provided him with income at one time when he was owner of his own underwater search and recovery business. You wouldn't take him for one of those Black Belt types, now, would you?

Fines

Dennis Wilkinson (right) was about to be fined for buying a new Jeep. He suggested a fine based on a "package" including an anniversary, travel to Whistler, Canada, teaching in New Jersey and playing Nine Ball Pool in Reno. Who would have taken Dennis for a Pool Shark!! $50

Remember, Bill tried to get Mary Peterson to pass on a fine to Dick? Well, he tried again but she said the fine had been taken out in trade. Bill asked her to sit down!

Make-ups: Bill is hoping to get Duncan Holt, Jim Sullivan, Pete Lamonica, et.al. to do make-ups for their absence stemming from a fishing trip. They're slowly getting there.

Mike Moore and Scott Bartley went to The Pace Ball. Mike Moore won a decorated Christmas tree. This was a long story which included getting a very large wrapped tree into the house, how it fell over, how Mike had to go to Yardbirds to buy a stand for it and then lift it. In light of Mike's earlier donation of $5,000, he was graciously spared a fine, however, Scott Bartley was fined $20 for his tangential involvement in the Pace Ball. When asked, Scott said he had been to the Pace Ball for seven years and never won a thing.

Mary Peterson again: Mary graciously paid Dick's fine with a family check, thank you Mary.

Raffle:

The Program:

This week's speaker was introduced by Bob Marigo. Sonoma County Sheriff, Mark Ihde (left), discussed the consequences of Proposition 215, legalizing marijuana for medical use.

The result of this proposition is a major headache for law enforcement. While all the laws forbidding growing, selling, possessing and using marijuana are still in place, Proposition 215 allows marijuana use for medicinal purposes, at the suggestion of a doctor. This is a verbal suggestion, there is no prescription or written documentation required under Proposition 215.

The benefits of medicinal marijuana use are claimed to be many and include relief from the effects of chemotherapy treatments, AIDS, chronic pain, headaches and glaucoma. Sheriff Ihde said that there had been numerous studies on the effects of marijuana, none of which had shown sufficient evidence of therapeutic benefit. He quoted from one source concerning its use as a treatment for glaucoma which had found that it had no effect on the intraocular pressure.

He said that the proponents of the proposition had done a good job of marketing and promotion having been generously financed, to the tune of about $2,000,000. About three quarters of a million had come from a wealthy New Yorker who had already spent $15,000,000 on various campaigns to legalize drugs. He added, the buyers club in San Francisco takes in about $250,000 per week in sales of marijuana.

Mark gave us the following scenario: You are stopped by an officer and he discovers you've got marijuana in your car. The policeman fines you $100 and confiscates your supply. Now, suppose you tell him that the marijuana is for medicinal use, that you take it at the suggestion of your doctor. He can't take away your medicine. He'll wonder if you are lying, of course, and you won't be able to prove otherwise because you haven't got a prescription. Just one scenario that's got law enforcement in a conundrum. And one that is going to lead to a plethora of test cases.

Sheriff Ihde does not object to the concept of legalizing marijuana. He sees a nightmare of contradictions in the present arrangement. He feels that if marijuana is to be used for medicinal purposes, it should be professionally grown under controlled conditions, professionally dispensed, and taken under a doctor's supervision.

Calendar

Monday, January 6, 1997: "What's ahead for the economy in 1997" with Larry Clark

Thank you, Writers!

Thank you to these people who have written the reports
of our weekly meetings:
Jim Hinton, Ty Pforsich, Dale Sipe, Pat Sizemore,
Robin Marrs, Nancy Ramsey, Ray Mattison.
Thank you all very much.
Pagan

Santa Rosa West Rotary Club

BULLETIN