San Francisco

POT CLUB MORATORIUM DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE

San Francisco's new moratorium on medicinal pot clubs will have to rely
largely on the honesty of proprietors, because the clubs don't need permits
to open in the city.

Wayne Justmann, a longtime medicinal marijuana activist, likened the ban,
passed Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, to a restraining order.

"It's going to have to rely on the goodwill of the individuals who claim
that they want to come in and be part of the medicinal cannabis community
of San Francisco," said Justmann, who nevertheless supports the moratorium.

"While it may not have any teeth, it's a sign that the board is going to
enact laws that are enforceable," said Board of Supervisors President Aaron
Peskin. "Regulating cannabis clubs is uncharted waters for the city of San
Francisco. As we figure our way, there may be other interim controls put in
place."

The board, along with Mayor Gavin Newsom, wants city officials to use the
45 days to work with the public and devise ways to regulate the clubs so
that they suit the needs of patients, the community and club owners. An
initial public hearing before a board subcommittee is scheduled for April 25.

"We can look at certain kinds of issues like confining the clubs to a
certain location in the city ... or limiting their proximity to each
other," said Dean Macris, interim head of the city Planning Department. "We
could require all clubs to seek a conditional use permit; we could perhaps
expand the notification to nearby residents."

San Francisco officials estimate that 37 of the state's 125-plus
dispensaries are in the city. The National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws counts 26 medical marijuana clubs in San Francisco.

Newsom has created a cross-departmental task force to encourage such
cooperation. For example, the treasurer's department would be expected to
notify the Planning Department if someone applies for a business license to
run a cannabis club, said senior planner Craig Nikitas. Similarly, any
requests for building permits for such clubs could trigger an inquiry.

Still, Nikitas said, there's no surefire way to sniff out every new
cannabis club that tries to set up shop.

"If they didn't need to move a wall or something, then technically, you
wouldn't need a building permit, and there's no way they're really on our
radar screen at that point," he said.

Although using marijuana is against federal law, California voters
legalized the use of the drug for medical reasons, with a physician's
recommendation, by passing Proposition 215 in 1996.

Some municipalities -- including Oakland and Berkeley -- restrict pot
clubs: What hours they can be open, how close they can be to schools and
each other and how many would be allowed in a city.

In San Francisco, according to the language of the supervisors' moratorium,
"there are currently no comprehensive city laws regulating or monitoring
medical cannabis dispensaries."

Supervisors, led by Ross Mirkarimi, decided it was time to rein in the
clinics before the state or federal government stepped in to do it for them.

The Health Department has issued about 8,200 currently valid cards that
identify medicinal marijuana patients to the dispensaries and to the
police, said spokeswoman Eileen Shields.

But the department does not keep track of the dispensaries.

"When it first began, there were about six dispensaries," Shields said.
"But because there was no way of really tracking them, it just got to be
unwieldy."