Pubdate: Sun, 28 Nov 2010
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Communications Inc.
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Authors: Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

OAKLAND POT PERMITS RUN INTO LEGAL OBSTACLES

Even as dozens of would-be pot planters showed up at Oakland City 
Hall last week to apply for permits to operate city-sanctioned 
marijuana farms, there were signs that the trailblazing effort to 
redefine the reefer industry might be going up in smoke. The four 
available permits, going for $211,000 apiece, may not be worth the 
paper they're written on. For starters, City Attorney John Russo has 
declined to put his signature on the city ordinance that created the permits.

The absence of Russo's approval will not stop the permits from being 
issued, but it does bring into question their legal standing. "The 
issue of production of cannabis is a legal thicket, and everyone 
knows it," Russo said. He declined to comment further, but word is 
federal authorities recently called his office and made it clear that 
they don't intend to look the other way to Oakland's flaunting of 
federal prohibitions on growing and selling marijuana in bulk. Former 
US attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello said the Obama 
Administration and Attorney General Eric Holder have made it clear 
both publicly and in memos that they plan to bust large pot-growing 
operations like those being proposed in Oakland. Would the city 
legally defend the permits after a federal bust? "We haven't 
discussed it, but I doubt we would," City Council President Jane 
Brunner said. Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, whose office has been 
contacted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration looking for 
information on the city's legislation, said it's "no big deal" that 
Russo plans to step aside if DEA agents roll into town. "If it 
happens, we have a normal procedure to use outside counsel," Kaplan said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom