HAYWARD POT CLUB ORDERED TO SHUT DOWN

HAYWARD -- One of two medical marijuana dispensaries in Hayward will
be forced to close down next month, city officials said.

"The place that is being closed down clearly violated their
conditions," Mayor Mike Sweeney said. "And apparently, they violated it twice."

Officials said the Local Patients Cooperative broke its three-year
operating memorandum with the city by having more than 3 pounds of
marijuana on the premises at one time.

Police officers inspected the club in September and said they
observed 30 pounds of the drug -- 10 times the city's limit. Officers
returned again last month and claimed to have observed 200 pounds.

The club's owner disputes that amount but acknowledges having at
least 30 pounds during the October inspection, City Manager Jesus
Armas said in a report released Friday.

The club, guarded by private security, is downtown on the second
floor of 22630 Foothill Blvd., across the street from where
developers are building a 12-screen cinema complex.

Armas said the club must cease all operations by Dec. 31. Managers at
the Local Patients Cooperative did not return calls for comment.

The order forcing the clinic to close does not affect the only other
Hayward pot club, Hayward Patients Resource Center, which is a block
away on Foothill Boulevard.

Tom Limos, owner of Patients Resource Center, said police officers
inspected his facility a little more than a week ago.

"We're sticking to the letterAdvertisement of the law," said Limos,
who addedhe has had a "very favorable, very professional"
relationship with local law enforcement.

But the future of his club, and medical marijuana in downtown Hayward
in general, remains uncertain.

"The larger question, of course, is whether the council wishes to
continue in some form the (agreement) that the city put together some
years back," Sweeney said. "I hope we will hear from folks in the
downtown in terms of what they think."

A decade ago the passage of Proposition 215 allowed doctor-approved
medical use of marijuana in California. In 2003, city officials in
Hayward became increasingly aware of a cluster of pot clubs that were
quietly operating downtown.

The response was a city ruling allowing a total of two clinics to
operate, on the condition that the owners follow an 11-point list of
rules that city officials drew up.

The first of those 11 conditions was that the agreement, which began
on Jan. 1, 2004, would end Dec. 31 and then be examined again for
further review.

Armas, in his report this week to the Hayward City Council, stated
that the city's "substantial investment in the Cinema Place project,
and the expected increase in pedestrian traffic in the area, serve as
compelling examples of the reasons for eliminating the use."

Limos said he has applied to renew his agreement with the city and
hopes to be able to continue operating after the year ends.

He said his business, apart from the security guard outside, is not
an "obvious" presence downtown.

"Anybody who doesn't know we're there probably won't know we're
there," Limos said. "The people that need my services will know how
to find me, and that's the way it should be."