MARIJUANA SHOPS DRAWS FIRE

Council Will Consider Ban On Retail Outlets Selling Pot For Medical Reasons

Over-the-counter marijuana is being sold in Modesto -- all you need is a
California ID and a prescription from a doctor practicing medicine anywhere
in the state.

But how long the marijuana store will last is anyone's guess. The City
Council is expected a week from today to consider an urgency ordinance
banning such marijuana dispensaries.

While state law allows marijuana sales for medicinal purposes, federal law
does not. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against marijuana sales by
the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative -- but the conflict between state
and federal law remains unsettled.

Monday, city officials seemed surprised to learn that a marijuana
dispensary had opened.

"We had heard rumors a business was getting ready to open, but we had no
name, no exact location," City Attorney Michael Milich said.

California voters legalized marijuana for medicinal use in 1996, and
guidelines for medical marijuana possession took effect Jan. 1, 2004.

California Healthcare Collective Inc., with a business license from the
city, began offering marijuana for sale in October at 304A McHenry Ave.,
just north of Five Points.

Monday, the store opened in a new location: 1009 McHenry Ave., in a strip
mall at Fairmont Avenue, across from the old Elks Lodge.

"Medical cannabis is just one of our all-natural products," store manager
Brannan Lambert said. "We sell natural soaps, candles and flea repellent."

Lambert said the store offers two forms of marijuana: "In extract form,
which is eaten, and grade A medical cannabis in its natural form."

He gave no details about sales or number of customers.

Monday, no marijuana could be seen on display in the store. No signs
advertised the drug. Lettering on the door simply identified the business
by its name: California Healthcare Collective Inc.

Milich said City Hall knew "there was local interest in opening such a
business."

Last fall, a city planner said he had received a telephone call from
someone asking whether the city regulated such retail outlets, also known
as hemp, or cannabis clubs. Cannabis is Latin for marijuana. The planner
said the caller neither identified himself nor followed up with the city.

Lambert, however, said his company has been in regular contact with city
officials and received a business license, allowing it to sell medicinal
marijuana along with other "health care" products.

Joann Bertolotti, the city's customer services supervisor, confirmed Monday
that California Healthcare Collective had received a city business license
but said no one from the company disclosed that it would be selling marijuana.

Had city officials been aware of that, Bertolotti said, "we would have
brought it to the attention of the police department and our city attorney."

Nothing on the company's business license application, City Manager George
Britton said, indicated that marijuana would be offered for sale.

"The business is listed as 'retail sale of health care products,'" Britton
said. "Nothing is reflected on the license that shows it is a cannabis club."

'Not Much Support For That Kind Of Thing'

Councilman Will O'Bryant, chairman of the City Council's Public Safety
Committee, said the panel last month discussed -- in general terms -- the
sale of marijuana through retail outlets.

"I can tell you, no one at that meeting expressed much support for that
kind of thing," O'Bryant said, adding that the committee had no problem
recommending a ban.

"I think there's probably going to be a fight on this one," he said.
"Modesto is very conservative when it comes to things like that. I think
the people will be behind us on this."

O'Bryant noted that cannabis extract is available in pill form at
pharmacies, so there should be no need for stores selling marijuana.

A Modesto pharmacist confirmed the availability of cannabis extract
prescriptions, to relieve pain and stimulate appetite, usually to cancer
patients. The pills do not cause the euphoria that comes from marijuana,
the pharmacist said.

Milich said the proposed ordinance to ban the retail sale of medicinal
marijuana was just one of several options presented to the committee.

"We've been doing our homework," Milich said. "We have been talking to
cities who have (retail outlets) that dispense medical marijuana about the
criminal problems associated with that."

Those problems, according to Milich, range from:

"People standing around outside the facility and smoking marijuana in
public" to "patients being robbed of their marijuana as they leave the
facility" to "patients selling marijuana to nonpatients."

Milich continued: "We're not saying that's the case here. (But) we think
there are enough documented cases of criminal behavior that would justify
banning (retail marijuana outlets) in Modesto."

AT A GLANCE

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use
Act, legalizing marijuana for medical use. Prop. 215 permits seriously ill
patients to use marijuana, provided they have doctor recommendations. The
proposition put California law in direct conflict with federal law, and
litigation is ongoing.

Source: Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California
at Berkeley

On the Net:

www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htMedicalMarijuana2003.html;
www.usdoj.gov/dea/ongoing/calimarijuana.html; www.canorml.org/home.htm.