Pubdate: Tue, 11 Oct 2005
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2005 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Jessica Portner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

COUNCIL TO CONSIDER ALLOWING POT CLUBS

The Mountain View City Council could vote today on a controversial 
proposal: whether to become the first city in Santa Clara County to open 
medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

The seven-member city council may decide to allow pot clubs with certain 
restrictions, ask the city's staff to study the idea, or discard the idea 
entirely.

Mayor Matt Neely said Monday that he is supportive of the controversial 
concept, but has some reservations before he welcomes pot clubs to Mountain 
View.

"It's a very challenging issue," he said. "But I think Mountain View should 
be a leader in the county. We are a progressive city."

Jonathan Lustig, a 26-year-old Mountain View resident, has pressed the 
council to allow marijuana dispensaries in the city so he doesn't have to 
travel to Oakland to pick up the doctor-prescribed substance that he says 
eases his crippling migraines and stomach pain.

Before the meeting -- which begins at 6:30 p.m. at 500 Castro St. -- 
supporters plan to petition residents outside City Hall to support the idea 
of a medicinal marijuana center in Mountain View.

Regulating such dispensaries has recently become complicated, particularly 
in California, which has more than 160 clubs. In 1996, voters passed 
Proposition 215, which sanctioned medicinal marijuana use. State law 
authorizes patients to use medicinal marijuana if they have certain 
diseases, including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis or migraines. But in 
recent years, local and county governments have wrestled with how to 
regulate a substance that is still illegal under federal law.

Some members of the Mountain View City Council also have expressed concerns 
about how neighbors might respond to having a dispensary in their community 
and how the clubs might be monitored.

Councilman Greg Perry, who supports dispensaries, said he hopes to sway 
other members to examine the possibility.

"A lot of cities are trying to give people the runaround rather than tackle 
the difficult problems and that rubs me the wrong way," Perry said. "I 
wanted to kick off the discussion."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom