Saratoga News

Augustine sets up a 'think tank' on medical marijuana

By Sarah Lombardo

Saratoga has become the headquarters of a medical marijuana think tank. Resident Dennis Augustine, 48, announced Jan. 30 the founding of Friends of Cannabis Under Siege (FOCUS), an independent medical-marijuana patients advocacy group.

Augustine, a retired podiatric surgeon, resigned from his volunteer position as administrative medical director of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center on Dec. 1 last year amid continuing controversy about his position and duties at the center, which began almost immediately after his appointment eight months ago. The resignation came about a week before California's First District Court of Appeals ruled against Dennis Peron and his Cannabis Buyers Club in San Francisco, which opened the door for state officials to shut the doors of other medical marijuana clubs.

Augustine cited the 40- to 50-hour weeks he was putting in at the center and the effect it was having on his family as the reason he resigned. But he said he also knew it was simply time to get out.

"As much as I believe medical cannabis centers offer a viable way for patients to obtain their medicine, I began to see the handwriting on the wall," he said. "I couldn't put my family in jeopardy by being a possible target of federal lawsuits and injunctions that I knew were on the horizon. It's one thing to seize the spotlight to try to effect change, but when that light turns out to be the headlight of a runaway train heading in your direction, it's time to get out of the way and approach it from a different angle."

Augustine said he came up with the name for the group when he decided that supporters of medical marijuana and the implementation of Proposition 215 needed to stay focused on what he felt was the important issue: making marijuana available to sick people.

"We must continue to focus on the fact that this is a human rights issue. The voters of California have gone on record [with] Proposition 215 that they don't want people to suffer," he said. "It also mandated that the state and federal government implement a plan for safe and affordable access."

And it is the state implementation that Augustine said FOCUS's six members are working on. Although they do not plan to approach state or federal officials with ideas yet, Augustine said FOCUS members--who range in occupation from an investment banker to businesspeople--want to create a pilot project the state and federal officials will accept, and that will adhere to Prop. 215.

A tall order, Augustine admits, and one that might not come before other centers are closed. So, he said, the group is also working on an "Emergency Preparedness and Alert" program that will allow patients who have doctor recommendations to get pot another way should local centers be shut down.

Sitting in the front room of his palatial Saratoga home, it's hard to imagine why Augustine would want to seemingly leap straight from the frying pan into the fire. But that's just what he may have done by forming FOCUS.

Augustine, who has sometimes been criticized for his work with the cannabis center, said he recognizes that his founding of a group whose sole purpose is to find a way to get pot to patients could garner him more criticism, but said that he has gotten the support of friends and family.

"I can't tell you my wife is excited about it," he joked, "but I feel strongly about the issue."

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