COUNTY MULLS LEGAL POT SALES

Buying and selling marijuana at three authorized outlets in Cherryland
could be tougher under revisions to Alameda County's 2005 cannabis
ordinance.

County-approved marijuana sales currently are based in Cherryland, in
unincorporated Hayward.

Potential sales areas also include commercial areas of Ashland,
Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and smaller unincorporated communities in
the greater Hayward area.Here are some proposed changes that county
supervisors could approve in June:

- -The operating permit for the now-closed Compassionate Collective of
Alameda County, also known as Compassionate Patients' Cooperative,
could be eliminated or made available to another marijuana sales
business. The collective was at three Mission Boulevard storefronts,
between Cherry and Grove ways.

- -The sheriff's department could close a marijuana dispensary, or
suspend its county-issued operating permit, if permit violations are
noted during at-will inspections.

- -Hashish, a more potent form of marijuana, could be sold, with no more
than 11/2pounds of it at each business at any time.

- -Each dispensary now is limited to 20 pounds of marijuana on the
premises at any time. The availability of hashish would reduce
marijuana supplies, with 3 pounds of marijuana eliminated for every
pound of hashish on hand.

- -Customers at some California cannabis clubs can buy marijuana from
vending machines. Mechanized equipment would be banned in the updated
county ordinance.

- -The Advertisement sale of food products containing marijuana, such as
candy, cookies and peanut butter, would be forbidden.

- -Business expansion would be limited to adjoining buildings and not,
for example, to other locations or outlets.

- -The county will require each marijuana seller to submit a business
plan, including differentiating between medical marijuana patients and
"drug users," said Donna Ziegler, assistant county counsel.

- -The county will eliminate the lottery process of accepting, reviewing
and issuing permits. Supervisors could favor, for example, a
mom-and-pop pot operation over a marijuana supermarket.