POT CLINICS, CARDS UP FOR VOTES

City Expected To Ban Dispensaries; County Will Decide On Issuing IDs

The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday night on permanently
banning medical marijuana dispensaries, three weeks after the federal
Drug Enforcement Administration shut down Modesto's only pot clinic.

That same day, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors is scheduled
to vote on installing a program to issue medical marijuana cards
through the state Department of Health Services.

It could be a long day for medical marijuana supporters, with
officials at both meetings lining up against pot dispensaries.

"I'm opposed to the medical marijuana card in the first place,"
Supervisor Ray Simon said. "I am concerned about its abuse and the
great potential for abuse." State law permits sick people to use
medical marijuana; federal law does not. Cities and counties have been
trying to balance the two since California approved its Compassionate
Use Act 10 years ago.

The Modesto council 10 months ago tried to close the McHenry Avenue
clinic by banning for-profit cannabis dispensaries, but the California
Healthcare Collective was a nonprofit and remained open.

The council had to overrule the city's Planning Commission to
implement its first law. This time, the commission supports banning
dispensaries.

Chairwoman Alita Roberts said she and other planning commissioners
changed their minds after seeing police reports that described healthy
people getting the drug from the clinic.

Police contend some people easily obtained fake doctor's
recommendations to buy marijuana at the collective, and others
purchased cannabis on the street from the patients.

"I wish there were a way that it could be made available to people who
are really, really sick, but somehow it just didn't seem to work the
way the city of Modesto had it," Roberts said.

The Police Department and the DEA say the clinic was a front to sell
marijuana to people who didn't need it.

Directors pleaded innocent

People who worked or shopped at the Modesto collective said directors
took pains to check doctor's recommendations and keep out people who
didn't have cards for use of the drug.

Its directors, Ricardo Montes and Luke Scarmazzo, on Oct. 13 pleaded
innocent to federal drug distribution charges. Their lawyer has
maintained that they opened a legal business in compliance with state
law. Medical marijuana supporters say the city could avoid some of the
problems it encountered by regulating the clinics more closely.

"Well-controlled regulations are much more preferable to a ban," said
Aaron Smith, a statewide coordinator for Safe Access Now. "You're
basically throwing patients on the streets, saying 'You can use
medical marijuana but you have to go to some street corner to a drug
dealer.'"

Smith said one tool to regulate the drug in the county could be the
medical marijuana cards that supervisor Simon opposes.

"This gives the legitimate patients an option to make sure that,
whoever they show this card to, that it is backed up and verified by
the county," he said.

The state requires counties to issue cards, but three counties are
suing the attorney general's office to overturn the law. The counties
- -- Merced, San Diego and Riverside -- argue the state is forcing them
to break a federal law. A court hearing is scheduled Nov. 16. Simon
said he wants to see what happens with that lawsuit before installing
the card program.

Mary Ann Lee, managing director of the county Health Services Agency,
said her department wants direction from supervisors about whether to
proceed.

If the supervisors tell the county to implement the cards, Lee's
department would be responsible for verifying doctor's recommendations
for medical marijuana use and then forwarding information to the state
health agency, which would issue the cards.

Cops opposed to cards

Smith said the cards would make it easier for police to determine who
has justifiable need for medical marijuana, but Stanislaus County's
top cops oppose the cards.

Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden wrote a letter to supervisors in
August lobbying against the cards. The Stanislaus County Sheriff's
Department also wants supervisors to hold off on the program,
Assistant Sheriff Bill Heyne said.

"We're not opposed to people using a drug that benefits them because
of their physical ailment; that's not the issue," Heyne said. "What
this is leading to is abuse by anyone and everyone."