75A - PH - MEDICAL MARIJUANA - PROHIBIT

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That's what another I ONews employee had to do. He paid $125 to have Steiner recommend marijuana for his "sleeping problems." "They just let me in the office. (They) kind of started giving me all these facts about medical marijuana before they even knew what was wrong with me," said tester number two. Tester two would get his marijuana if he went to another doctor first to document his condition. "He (Dr. Sterner) referred the to a doctor who would have me in and out real quickly. I could come right back, (and) he would be able to sign off on the recommendation. Once people get their recommendations, l ONews discovered there's no limit or control. as to hoix~ much marijuana they can. buy from storefronts called dispensaries. Legal Loophole? You don't have to suffer from a serious illness to buy medical marijuana from dispensers. 1 ONcws investigators were able to get approval for marijuana from two doctors -- Dr. Robert Sterner, who has an office near Lindbergh Field, and Dr. Alfonso Jimenez in downtown San Diego. They got me through pretty quick," said tester number one, a I ONews employee. With a recommendation from a doctor, the staffers would be able to get marijuana that is sold at dispensaries across San Diego County. Tester number two, another lONews employee, was sent into the doctor's offices and said, "I went to two different places, and within thirty minutes I got some (referrals). It seemed pretty easy." These marijuana recommendations can be filled at twenty different storefronts selling pot, and unlike a regular prescriptions, a patient can use the recommendations more than. once. A pattern is developing. Patients get recommendations," said Dep. District Attorney Dana Greisen. These recommendations are like a blank check. According to l ONews findings, one person received a recommendation. with permission. to grow 75 marijuana plants..Each plant has the street value of $1,000. The same person received permission to purchase five pounds of marijuana. With that amount, a person can smoke a joint every two hours for 24 hours a day and seven days a week, taking mare than a year to go Through all of that marijuana. Dr. Larry Pohl said what some of his colleagues are doing is not proper medicine. He said patients sometimes need lab work, X-rays or meetings with specialists. Pohl said marijuana is not acure-all. "It's definitely not consistent with standard medical care, said Pohl. Dr. Jimenez has several offices and we talked to him by phone at his Hawaii location, he told lONews that he only provides a referral for patients with medical illnesses. Jimenez's operates a Web site MedicalMarijuanaOfSanDiego.coin. When lONews visited Dr. Sterner, he explained he had to see patients and. closed his office door. But there is another loophole in the system, called the primary care giver form. Taking Advantage Of Proposition 215 "It is a legalization of marijuana. It's going to encourage drug use," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender. ".It is going to be helping people who are really sick and need a medicine that has been used for 5,000 years," said one Proposition 215 supporter. These were two very different predictions made 10 years ago after Prop. 215 was approved by Californians. Kolender was right, if you ask Dep. District Attorney Dana. Greisen. "Over the last year, we saw a proliferation of these recommendations, said Greisen. He says just about anyone can get marijuana. And to make matters worse, he says, doctors hand out blank primary caregiver forms. These forms allow patients to list anyone they want to be a caregiver. It allows this person to purchase or grow marijuana for them. lONews Investigations sent in two staffers to check Greisen's claims. And it was as the assistant district attorney had claimed. Our staffers were given. blank caregiver forms. I ONews learned that one person named his dog as a caregiver, 40 75A-49