Pubdate: Fri, 31 Oct 2003
Source: Daily Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.dailyreviewonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1410
Author: Laura Counts
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

OAKLAND AT ODDS OVER CANNABIS CLUBS

City Undecided On Limits, Regulations For Booming Dispensaries

OAKLAND -- The city is grappling with the sticky issue of how to regulate 
medical marijuana outlets, and a three-hour committee hearing Tuesday did 
little to resolve key questions such as whether the number should be 
limited or whether special permits should be required.

Cannabis clubs, attracted by the city's supportive view toward medical 
marijuana as well as cheap rents and comraderie, have been proliferating 
downtown, especially in the triangle between Telegraph Avenue, Broadway and 
17th and 19th streets.

There are now seven to 11 cannabis clubs in town, and the "Uptown" area has 
taken on new life and a new nickname: Oaksterdam. The clubs are clustered 
around the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, credited with pioneering 
responsible pot distribution methods but embroiled in federal litigation 
over its legality.

The city had turned a blind eye to the dispensaries until recently, when 
Council President Ignacio De La Fuente threatened to shut them all down and 
allow only a single outlet to operate.

"I want to make it available for those seriously ill people," De La Fuente 
said. "We had a policy that was enacted for a reason. Now we have people 
doing it for profit and recreation, rather than medicine."

The council's Public Safety Committee rejected the idea of a single 
operator last month, and De La Fuente has since revised his proposal to 
allow three cannabis clubs. But a working group comprising medical cannabis 
advocates, the police department and city officials was unable to reach 
consensus on whether the number should be limited at all.

Recommendations from the group range from a limit of five, to seven 
downtown and one in each council district, to allowing an unlimited number.

"We wouldn't want some to become Wal-Marts and not let smaller, more 
innovative dispensaries move in," argued Robert Raich, an attorney for the 
Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

Cooperative director Jeff Jones said his group has issued identification 
cards for 2,600 Oakland patients, as well as equal numbers in Santa Clara 
and Contra Costa counties. The co-op has about 20,000 members in all.

Hayward also has been struggling with how to regulate cannabis outlets and 
recently reached an agreement to grandfather in three dispensaries on 
Foothill Boulevard for three years.

Berkeley has four dispensaries, and San Francisco has about 18. Most other 
Bay Area cities and many surrounding counties have none operating 
aboveground, so patients come from all over to fill prescriptions here.

City officials are debating more than just the number. Unresolved issues 
include whether to:

- - Prohibit cannabis clubs within a fixed distance from schools or youth 
programs, as Santa Cruz and other cities have done.

- - Require conditional use permits or create a special zone for them to operate.

- - Allow smoking on-site and whether to impose ventilation requirements.

- - Grandfather in the existing establishments.

- - Limit hours.

The situation is further complicated by the dilemma of a youth center, the 
Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County, which has watched Oaksterdam 
grow up around it and is now demanding the city help the center relocate.

Dozens of speakers packed the Council Chambers for Tuesday's public 
hearing, many of them sounding off in general terms about medical marijuana 
and giving testimonials to how much it has helped them or family members 
manage such diseases as AIDS, severe arthritis and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Leaders of the movement made it clear they favor some sort of regulation 
and have no problem with taxation, but fear any kind of record-keeping by 
the city will invite federal reprisals. That leaves open the question of 
whether the city should be able to audit their records, as is done for 
other businesses.

Although medical marijuana was legalized by voters in California, federal 
policy still treats the drug as illegal under all circumstances.

Councilmember Jean Quan laid out a plan she described as a compromise, but 
the committee was too divided to make any decisions.

Quan said she recently toured several of the cannabis clubs, which 
convinced her regulation is needed. While some are operating responsibly, 
"some of them, quite frankly, were more like the head shops of my youth 
when I visited the Haight Ashbury as a teen."

The full council will discuss legal issues in closed session next week. A 
public hearing is also scheduled for the council next week, but it could be 
postponed until Nov. 18.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens