OAKLAND DESIGNATES POT CLUB

City Council OKs group to distribute medical marijuana

Refusing to back down in the heated battle over medical marijuana, Oakland
is pushing ahead with new policies supporting use and distribution of the
drug -- and one member of the City Council is going so far as to advocate
that the city itself take over the job of dispensing cannabis to patients.

Late Tuesday night, the council authorized the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative to distribute medical marijuana.

By an 8-to-1 vote, council members passed an ordinance that gives the city
authority to designate associations that can distribute pot for medical
reasons.

Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente cast the negative vote, saying that he
could not support it in ``good conscience.''

``I feel strongly that it's not the right thing to do,'' De La Fuente said.
``There's no control of the caregivers, no real certification, no way to
track them, no way to (know) if this is a loophole that will allow people
to abuse the program.''

The ordinance opens the city to liability if an association it certifies to
distribute marijuana is sued for any reason -- either by federal officials
or individual patients, a city attorney said.

Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker added that the city might also be
subject to criminal prosecution, although she said that would be unlikely.

Councilman Nate Miley said he wants the city to look into whether its legal
risks would be decreased by becoming a primary caregiver and setting up its
own dispensary program, rather than relying on a private club to do the
job.

Some San Francisco officials have suggested a similar strategy.

Theoretically, the Oakland ordinance affects any association that is
designated as a medical cannabis provider by the city. But the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative is now the only designated group. Situated in
downtown Oakland, the cooperative distributes marijuana to about 1,700
patients, according to its executive director Jeff Jones.

By throwing the city's weight behind the cooperative, city officials hope
to derail federal attempts to shut the club down. A federal judge is
reviewing such a petition next month.

A spokesman from the U.S. attorney's office could not be reached for comment.

Council members also say the ordinance helps carry out the will of those
who voted for state Proposition 215, which legalized medical pot.

However, federal law, which supersedes state law, says marijuana used for
any purpose is illegal.

Also Tuesday night, the council again approved a policy that allows medical
marijuana users to store 1 1/2 pounds of the drug at home -- an amount 24
times higher than that allowed under guidelines set by Attorney General Dan
Lungren.

Although the council unanimously passed the 1 1/2-pound policy two weeks
ago, Mayor Elihu Harris and De La Fuente demanded that the issue be brought
back because they did not realize they were voting in favor of it.

The misunderstanding occurred because the pot policy had been folded into a
general report that came before the council about a June Public Safety
Committee meeting.

``It was buried in the (committee) report, and we just accepted the
report,'' Harris said. ``Nobody pulled (the pot policy) for discussion.''
After a lengthy debate Tuesday night, the policy was approved by the
council again -- but Harris and De La Fuente cast ``no'' votes, saying they
were uncomfortable with the 1 1/2-pound standard because they felt it could
lead to abuse of the drug.

In other matters Tuesday night, the council placed Mayor-elect Jerry
Brown's strong-mayor initiative on the November ballot.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A16

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)