MEDICINAL POT LAW FITS LAID-BACK TOWN

Santa Cruz, where downtown stores stock hookahs and bongs and tie-dye
is still fashionable, has never exactly frowned on marijuana. But if
you're sick and could use a toke, you now have the city's blessing.

By unanimous vote this week, the Santa Cruz City Council approved an
ordinance sanctioning medicinal marijuana collectives that provide
free pot to members whose illnesses could be aided by the illicit drug.

``This will certainly be a comfort to many people,'' said Tim
Fitzmaurice, the city's vice mayor, who co-authored the law with
Councilman Mike Rotkin.

The law was aimed at sanctioning the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
Marijuana, a collective based in the Santa Cruz Mountains whose 200
members suffer from cancer, AIDS, epilepsy and other ailments. But
other groups organized the same way could benefit as well.

Even before the new law, police in the laid-back town had backed away
from busting ailing tokers. Since state voters in 1996 overwhelmingly
passed Proposition 215 to allow medicinal marijuana use, local
authorities have developed rules for recognizing legitimate patients.

But city leaders said the law gives police a clearer policy. And they
said it could help medicinal marijuana users beat a drug rap by
federal authorities, who maintain that U.S. law still bans marijuana
under any circumstance.

``It offers security,'' said Valerie Corral, who founded the medicinal
marijuana alliance and uses marijuana to calm seizures. ``This action
creates a union between patients, doctors and our city
government.''

The law, which faces final approval April 11 and would take effect 30
days later, is already a hit. Corral's phone rang constantly Wednesday
from callers interested in joining. At least two other people have
already proposed forming similar organizations.

That's not too surprising in a town where High Times magazine is on
the rack at local grocery stores and downtown jewelers sell
cannabis-shaped earrings.

Coincidentally, an inn opening in a downtown Victorian next month is
billing itself as the first ``bed, bud and breakfast'' where medicinal
marijuana use will be openly encouraged. The Compassion Flower Inn,
with a marijuana-leaf mosaic on the front walk, is already booked for
its scheduled April 20 debut.

``We're trying to get medical marijuana patients to enjoy their stay
here,'' said owner Maria Mallek-Tischler, who's also an activist for
legalizing the drug. ``I don't think a hotel or motel would allow them
to smoke marijuana. They can be comfortable here. They don't have to
be in the closet.''

Santa Cruz's ordinance was modeled after one passed by Oakland in
1998, and follows language in a state law passed in the wake of the
1996 initiative, City Attorney John Barisone said.

The Oakland law was aimed at legitimizing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers
Cooperative, a medicinal marijuana supplier since closed by federal
authorities. That matter is under appeal in federal court, and is
being watched by several cities, including Berkeley, considering their
own medicinal marijuana laws.

``We're waiting to see the outcome of that before we decide,'' said
Berkeley City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque. ``I think there is an
interest in the city in fostering a provision for medical marijuana to
the extent that it's legal.''

Federal drug authorities also are watching Oakland's case. They're
hoping the court will guide them in dealing with the conflicting
federal and state laws, said Joycelyn Barnes, spokeswoman for the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration in San Francisco.

Until then, federal agents aren't looking to raid a few sick smokers,
Barnes said. They'd rather go after the big street dealers.

``If we don't get information that it's being sold for profit or on
the illegal market, it's not something we'd actively look into,''
Barnes said.

Santa Cruz leaders thought recent rulings in the Oakland case indicate
such laws could be defensible. They had their law reviewed by Santa
Clara University law Professor Gerald Uelmen, who defended the Oakland
club.

Last fall, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the
Oakland buyers club didn't get a fair chance to make its case of
medical necessity. It ordered the trial judge who closed the club to
reconsider the issue.

While the ruling didn't directly uphold Oakland's law, it suggested
the buyer's club could have a valid defense. The Justice Department
must now decide whether to appeal that ruling to the U.S. Supreme
Court or proceed with its case, Uelmen said.

Like Oakland's law, Santa Cruz's doesn't require a doctor's written
prescription for marijuana, City Attorney Barisone said. Patients need
only show they're being treated for an illness, such as cancer,
glaucoma or AIDS, for which marijuana is considered potentially helpful.

John Woolfolk covers the city of Santa Cruz. Contact him at
jwoolfolk@sjmercury.com