SUPERVISORS WORKING ON NEW RULES FOR POT CLUBS

Regulations Could Include Waiting Lists, Distance Regulations

A Board of Supervisors committee began Thursday the difficult work of
hammering out a series of regulations governing medical marijuana
dispensaries in San Francisco that protect patients' access to
cannabis while curbing abuse of the clubs and their effect on
residential neighborhoods.

About 35 clubs are doing business in the city with more than 8,000
medical marijuana patients registered in San Francisco. Mayor Gavin
Newsom and every member of the Board of Supervisors have expressed
support for medical marijuana, which was established by state law in
1996.

But exactly how the clubs should operate, where they should be
located, what fees they should pay to the city and how much they can
sell to individual patients are up for debate in the absence of any
city law regulating the dispensaries. A moratorium barring the opening
of any new club is set to expire Nov. 20.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has been leading the effort to pass
legislation that will clearly and effectively define how the clubs can
operate. Earlier this week, Newsom said some provisions of the
legislation to be considered by supervisors were not strong enough.

One proposal pushed by the mayor would require pot clubs to be located
1,000 feet or more from schools, recreation centers and parks. The
ordinances being considered by supervisors would allow a club to be
run 500 feet from a school if marijuana is not smoked on the premises.

At a hearing Thursday of the Board's Budget and Finance Committee,
Mirkarimi outlined his concern that the restrictions proposed by the
mayor would force the clubs to the far reaches of the city. "If you
use that parameter and formula, these clubs will practically be in the
bay," Mirkarimi said.

Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Gerardo Sandoval also have introduced
legislation to regulate pot clubs. Responding to concerns that some
clubs have been operating within a few blocks of each other, Elsbernd
has proposed a 1,000-foot separation between any new clubs. He also
has proposed a 180-day period, once any legislation is passed, for
clubs to apply for city permits. Once that six-month period is over,
no new permits could be issued.

Citing concerns from his constituents about crime the dispensaries
might attract, Sandoval has proposed that any clubs operating in his
district obtain special-use permits from the city's Planning
Commission. Those permits could come with conditions on how the clubs
are run.

Attending the hearing, Supervisor Bevan Dufty said some Noe Valley
residents had been particularly upset by a club operating in their
neighborhood where they say dealers have been buying marijuana. Dufty
said a proposal to allow patients to buy a pound of pot a day might
make them targets for theft.

Dozens of patients and medical marijuana advocates packed Thursday's
hearing at City Hall to argue against regulations that would restrict
the location of clubs or make them more expensive to run. The proposed
ordinances are scheduled to come before the Board of Supervisors for a
discussion and possible vote on Oct. 18.