OAKLAND ALLOWS MEDICAL POT USERS TO KEEP THREE-MONTH SUPPLY

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The City Council says medical pot users may keep 1
1/2 pounds of marijuana on hand, defying a limit set by state Attorney
General Dan Lungren.

The policy, approved unanimously on Tuesday, is believed to be the state's
most liberal and permissive since implementation of Proposition 215, the
medical marijuana initiative approved by voters in 1996.

Lungren has set a limit of two plants, or 1 ounce of marijuana, for a
30-day supply.

Under the Oakland measure, pot users will be allowed to collect a
three-month supply, which amounts to 30 outdoor flowering plants, four
dozen indoor flowering plants or 1 1/2 pounds of bulk marijuana.

That policy is based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests of
medicinal marijuana, which allot a half-pound of pot a month or about 10
cigarettes a day, according to a committee of police, city staffers,
physicians and patients that developed the Oakland proposal.

Police will be asked to honor the policy, but users will be ordered to
forfeit their pot supply if they can't provide a doctor's note within two
days.

The city has one of the state's largest pot emporiums, the Oakland Cannabis
Buyers' Cooperative, with about 1,700 members. Despite the state
initiative, the federal government says possession of marijuana, whatever
the purpose, is against the law.

Copyright The Associated Press Copyright The Sacramento Bee

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)