COUNCIL TO BREAK TIE ON LIMITING MEDICAL POT

An Oakland City Council committee deadlocked yesterday on a proposal to
reduce the amount of medical marijuana permitted under city law, one of the
most liberal policies in the nation.

Council President Ignacio De La Fuente has proposed cutting the number of
pot plants patients can have in their homes from 144 to 10 and reducing the
pounds of dried marijuana permitted from six to 2 1/2 pounds a year. De La
Fuente contends that drug dealers are using the city ordinance as a cover
to grow and sell large amounts of marijuana.

But the council's public safety committee's vote tied 2 to 2 on the
proposal, sending it without a recommendation to the full council for a
vote in two weeks. Committee chairman Larry Reid and Councilman Henry Chang
voted for the change, and Danny Wan and Moses Mayne opposed it. De La
Fuente is not a member of the committee.