By KATE DARBY RAUCH
TIMES STAFF WRITER

BERKELEY John Tuttle, tan and trim with a generous splash of tattoos and
rings through his ears and nose, zips through traffic on a mountain bike.
An ordinary sight in Berkeley. But in his backpack is an uncommon cargo.
His pack contains a pharmacy of sorts: a baggie of top of theline
marjuana, a baggie of middlegrade marijuana, a baggie of "free weed" for
people without money. Some is best for easing pain. Some makes you hungry.
Some helps you sleep.
Tuttle is owner and operator of the Berkeley Cannabis Buyer's Club, one of
a growing number of clubs selling medicinal marijuana to people suffering a
wide variety of ailments.
Tuttle cultivates marijuana and augments his supply with marijuana grown
by others and sells the drug throughout Berkeley. And business isn't bad.
He has about 30 clients.
"I'm usually always heading out with pot in my backpack; that's an
everyday thing," said Tuttle, or Wes to those who know him.
He's one of a growing number of sellers and cultivators cropping up
statewide since voters in November approved Proposition 215, which allows
patients to possess or obtain marijuana for medical use if they have a
doctor's recommendation. Those who sell the drug must confirm the
recommendation by telephone or in person.
Proponents of medical marijuana say the drug, among other things, eases
the nausea and appetite loss associated with chemotherapy and AIDS
treatment, relieves chronic pain associated with arthritis and other
ailments and reduces the eye
strain of glaucoma.
Critics, including the federal government, argue that marijuana holds no
medical value and that prescription drugs can accomplish the same goals.
Although doctors cannot legally provide marijuana to patients, or help them
obtain the drug, they can recommend it, and more and more are doing so.
Marijuana clubs have opened in many cities, including Hayward, Mann City,
San Jose, Santa Cruz, Sacramento and Los Angeles, since Prop. 215 took
effect Jan. 1. There are seven such clubs in San Francisco.
Berkeley has several medical marijuana "dispensaries," as they are often
called, and several prospective medical marijuana entrepreneurs have
inquired about city regulations, said Berkeley zoning officer Dan Marks.
However, Marks added: "I have no idea how competitive this will be."
Cannabis clubs have been around for a while, quietly dispensing marijuana
to people with a doctor's recommendation. In many cities, including
Berkeley, marijuana related offenses have traditionally been a low
priority, and Prop. 215 sanctioned a practice some Bay Area cities had
tacitly approved for some time.
However; Prop. 215 left some legal loopholes, and many cities and
communities are scurrying to interpret the law. Attorney General Dan
Lungren, for the most part, is leaving it to local jurisdictions to
interpret and enforce the law.
In Berkeley, the Planning Commission recently passed an ordinance
regulating zoning for medical marijuana growers. The city also has a
committee studying other aspects of implementing Prop. 215; the panel will
meet Monday to discuss the Planning Commission's ordinance.
Cities are also struggling to figure out how to regulate and enforce the
new law.
Oakland has passed ordinances making medical marijuana a low priority for
law enforcement. San Jose has a detailed policy in place. Martinez has
banned medical marijuana until further study by the city.
"This is obviously very new, and the laws may change," Marks said. "The
situation is extremely fluid, and we re still on the culling edge of
interpreting all this. There are a lot of unanswered questions."
Tuttle, for one, is paying close attention as the answers unfold. Last
week, with city zoning maps and a copy of the new ordinance piled on his
coffee table, he said he was about to move his operation to a warehouse space.
His official business address had been a post office box. Berkeley's new
planning ordinance permits growing and selling only in some commercial and
manufacturing zones.
On a recent morning, Tuttle, who also works as a building manager,
scrambles to get ready for a day's work.
He packs leaves of marijuana into baggies, carefully weighing and labeling
each one and recording his inventory in a small brown notebook. Though it's
not clear yet how the dispensing of medical marijuana will be monitored,
Tuttle, like many new marijuana entrepreneurs, tries to keep careful records.
He advertises in local newspapers and is about to accept credit cards. He
said he doesn't expect to become a millionaire, but hopes to support
himself without relying on other work. He charges about $55 for an
eighthounce of marijuana. He wouldn't disclose how much marijuana he
sells, but said it wasn't even a pound a week.
"I'm struggling. I'm surviving," he said. "I do plan to hopefully make a
decent living, but meanwhile, it's a struggling battle. I'm pretty much
just covering cost and stuff."
Though Tuttle's marijuana business is above ground, it still may not be
above board. Prop. 215 legalized marijuana's use and sale for medical
purposes.
The law allows patients and care givers to possess marijuana for personal
use, but it isn't clear whether a third party can grow the drug for a club.
And transporting the drug to patients, as Tuttle does, remains illegal.
But Tuttle, who uses marijuana to alleviate the pain of arthritis, is a
believer in the cause.
"If they can't get to us, we should be able to get to them," said Tuttle,
who doesn't own a car and sometimes hoists his bike on BART to help reach
certain clients.
About eight of his regular clients are disabled and have a tough time
getting around.
"I look at it as taking care of the community."
Tuttle's is the only cannabis business in Berkeley now specializing in home
delivery, which is also available in Oakland and San Francisco. His move to
a warehouse may help him increase home deliveries.
"We want to extend delivery, we always want to keep that out there for
people who do not have caretakers who can run for them. I feel that's
really important.
"My heart is in this more than the money thing. It's something I believe
in.