Pubdate: Tue, 28 Dec 2010
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: C - 1
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Chip Johnson

OAKLAND PROCEEDING WITH CAUTION ON POT ORDINANCE

It seems that Oakland Mayor-elect Jean Quan and her virtual campaign 
running mate, at-large Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, didn't want to 
stand in front of the authorities on this one.

By a 7-1 vote, the Oakland City Council last week suspended its legal 
marijuana farm ordinance because it's not as legal as it was billed to be.

The council, on the advice of legal counsel and a letter of caution 
from the Alameda County district attorney's office, temporarily 
withdrew a plan to allow large indoor pot farms in the city.

The issue became a hot potato for Oakland lawmakers when Proposition 
19, a state initiative for recreational use by adults, was defeated 
at the polls last month. And even though city officials said the new 
ordinance wasn't contingent on the state ballot initiative, it turns 
out they were dead wrong.

Oakland City Attorney John Russo issued a legal opinion saying the 
plan violates the state's medical marijuana laws and could place 
council members in legal jeopardy.

He advised the city to back off of the proposal because Prop. 215, 
the state medical marijuana law, offers no legal protection from 
prosecution by state or federal authorities.

"There's no authority in 215 to grow pot for profit," Russo told The 
Chronicle last week.

Two weeks earlier, in an effort to illustrate the potential severity 
of the problem, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley used 
the phrase "aid and abet or conspire" in a letter to Oakland officials.

Oakland policymakers' latest foray into the rapidly evolving world of 
marijuana legislation was a disappointment only because it's one of 
the few areas where the city has really shown leadership on a national scale.

In a state where medical marijuana dispensaries have cropped up in 
cities faster than they can be identified or regulated, Oakland's 
approach to the issue has been measured, restrained and smart.

The city has allowed only four permitted pot clubs to operate in the 
city, and although that number will double next year, it's nowhere 
near the unregulated growth seen in other large cities around the state.

The city has regulated the dispensaries and watched one of them, 
Harborside Health Center, grow to become the largest facility of its 
kind in the nation, and perhaps the world.

City officials are on the right track to zone and limit where such 
operations can be established because, in Oakland - where the legal 
pot clubs put up a combined $28 million in medical marijuana sales - 
there are dozens of illegal pot farms operating that pose a potential 
risk to neighbors.

In this case, Oakland city officials jumped the gun by approving pot 
farms without limits on size or specific details about the legitimate 
markets they intend to serve.

"No decisionmaker in Oakland should be surprised by the objections 
raised in the D.A.'s letter," Russo said. "This has always been a 
legally complex area, and you need to have a situation in which you 
are at least abiding by state law. If you're just making up rules in 
Oakland, it's not going to work."

He would not comment on his discussions with the council prior to the 
July vote approving the new ordinance.

When you consider Russo's position as the only elected law 
enforcement official in the state to endorse Prop. 19, his legal 
analysis is not linked to a political position.

The message is clear: Oakland city officials need to proceed with 
caution in the post-Prop. 19 era, which has prompted a response from 
federal authorities.

In recent months, at least two Oakland medical marijuana dispensaries 
have seen their bank accounts dropped by federally insured banks. One 
of the institutions was Harborside, which reported $21 million in 
revenue in 2009. Banks don't turn away those kinds of customers 
without a real good reason. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake