Nearly eight years ago, District 3 Councilmember Toni Atkins pledged to make access to medical marijuana one of her top priorities.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, a law that allows people with a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana.

Securing a doctor’s recommendation has not been a problem. Patients who suffer from severe anxiety and depression can be given a recommendation.

Back in the 1990s, Atkins formed a task force led by local lawyer Juliana Humphrey. Users of medical marijuana complained they were harassed by local police, who, patients said, confiscated the cannabis, jailed users and charged them with illegal distribution.

The task force recommended that the city issue ID cards so medical marijuana patients could be identified by police. The ID cards, though, did not stop police from arresting patients who, police said, housed or grew too much of the drug.

In 2003, the legislature clarified its policy: qualified patients can possess up to eight ounces of dried marijuana and can grow 12 plants. The legislature also required all counties to issue user ID cards so police could determine medical users from recreational users.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, though, has refused to issue the cards. Instead, the board has filed suit against the law, contending that federal law banning any possession of marijuana pre-empts state law.

The county lost.

City Attorney Mike Aguirre has filed a brief with the local appellate court, urging the appellate court to sustain California’s right to allow its citizens access to medical marijuana.

In the meantime, federal law enforcement officials have stepped up efforts to arrest those who sell medical marijuana through dispensaries in California. Some distributors have been arrested, and, in federal law enforcement’s latest efforts, letters were sent to the distributors’ landlords. Landlords have been warned that under federal law they can lose property if they know tenants or persons occupying the property distribute, sell or use any illegal drug.

In California, where local police are state agents, some police officers have confiscated medical marijuana and not returned it.

A case reported in December was argued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s attorneys. Brown’s position is that the officer could not confiscate the medical marijuana because, under California law, the driver of the vehicle (where the marijuana was found) was lawfully entitled to possess and use the medical marijuana.

Attorneys for the city that employed the officer argued that the officer has a duty to enforce both federal and state law, even when the two conflict. An appellate panel in California, however, agreed with Jerry Brown, finding that the officer’s first obligation is to follow the law of California.

As a practical matter, California should simply legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, as California law outlined in the 1970s. People should be allowed to grow their own for their private use. That would not involve interstate or intrastate transportation of a drug, the basis for the federal law.

What’s really going on?

Medical marijuana laws have been approved now in 10 states. Drug traffickers are furious because easier access to marijuana cuts into profits. The alcohol industry is furious because one-third of its profits come from the sale of alcohol to college students. Alcohol sales are down because marijuana use is up.

The Supreme Court is baffled by the issue. On one hand, a majority feels Congress has the right to determine and regulate “controlled” substances used in interstate transit. At the same time, though, the court has allowed individuals to escape criminal prosecution under such federal laws when they are using a controlled substance for purposes of “religious” exercise.

The bottom line is: California faces a $15 billon deficit; we’re paying more than $10 billion a year in jail and prison expenses; and the prison budget has soared 80 percent since 2003.

Can we honestly afford to put people in jail for possession of minor amounts of marijuana?