OAKLAND POLICY PERMITS 1 1/2 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA

OAKLAND - In Oakland, medicinal marijuana users would be able to keep a 1
1/2-pound supply of cannabis on hand - well above a 1-ounce threshold set
by state Attorney General Dan Lungren - in a policy being considered by the
City Council.

If the council approves it in two weeks, the policy would be the most
detailed - and permissive in terms of sheer quantity - in the state when it
comes to implementing ProposiTion 215, the medicinal marijuana initiative
approved by voters In 1996.

Developed by a committee of police, city legal staff, physicians, patients
and Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club members, the proposed policy would direct
police officers not to target individuals - or confiscate their marijuana -
if it meets the criteria.

The club, the target of a federal lawsuit aimed at closing its doors, has
about 1,700 members and may be the largest such dispensary in the state
because of the recent closure of the San Francisco cannabis club.

The council's four-member public safety committee considered the policy
Tuesday and approved sending It to the full council.

The quantities outlined in the policy are based on ongoing U.S. Food and
Drug Administration tests of medicinal marijuana, which ration users to
about a half-pound per month, or 10 cigarettes per day.

In Oakland, a three-month supply would be allowed, which according to the
proposed guideline amounts to 30 outdoor flowering plants, 48 indoor
flowering plants or 1 1/2 pounds of bulk marijuana.

If all the plants aren't flowering - and thus not harvestable - then users
would be able to keep 96 on hand indoors or 60 outdoors.

No more than 144 plants would be allowed. Users would have to be able to
provide proof of medical use to police. If they do not provide proof within
two days, their marijuana would be forfeited.

That differs dramatically from Lungren's guidelines, which allow only two
plants, or 1 ounce on hand. The attorney general has determined that
amounts to a 30-day supply.

"I'm surprised at the figures they came up with," said Matt Ross, a Lungren
spokesperson. "It's rather staggering."

The two policies differ on the basis for calculating usable marijuana
Lungren's maintains that one pound of marijuana is obtained from a single
plant, while Oakland Cannabis Club representatives say that includes
unusable parts of a plant, like the stem branches, leaves and root ball.

Only a flowering bud is used for medicinal marijuana, and that means one
plant only produces a half-ounce of usable cannabis, said attorney Robert
Raich, who is representing the club in the federal lawsuit.

"They are assuming a plant is the size of a Christmas tree, not some thing
a user would grow in his closet he said. "We are trying to be realistic.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)