POT TO GET TIGHTER OVERSIGHT

Hoping to clarify ambiguities set by the 1996 Compassionate Use Act,
the San Mateo City Council is set to approve Monday a medical
marijuana ordinance to regulate who can grow and distribute the drug
within its borders.

The council will vote on the first reading of an ordinance at its
Monday meeting. If approved, the council will have a second reading
with a vote next month and the law would go into effect 30 days later,
sometime in May, said City Attorney Shawn Mason.

The ordinance would require medical marijuana dispensaries to register
through the Police Department and meet certain security and business
regulations. It will also prohibit collectives from anywhere in the
city but manufacturing and service commercial areas.

For the most part, the proposed ordinance would regulate the
"collective" cultivation of medical marijuana. Collectives are places
where people pool their money and time to grow marijuana in one
central location. Dispensaries simply distribute and are already
prohibited by law.

While state law allows collectives, it places few limits on the
activity and some cities, like San Mateo, are taking steps to fill the
void.

The ordinance would require collectives to register with the Police
Department to prevent law enforcement mistakes by informing officers
where lawful cultivation of marijuana is taking place.

It would also require collective growers to obtain a license, so the
city could adequately address neighborhood impact. The license would
be issued through a committee of people formed from city departments,
Mason said.

People who grow marijuana on their own property for personal use will
not be subject to the new requirements, according to a report issued
last year.

The ordinance will establish conditions to address safety and
security. The ordinance will prohibit advertising of the activity,
smoking marijuana on site and sale of marijuana at the collective. It
will require security lighting, alarms and that the marijuana be grown
indoors, according to the report.

City officials were asked to address medical marijuana collectives
last year after three were shut down in raids that occurred Aug. 29,
2007.

Medical marijuana advocates gathered to protest the raids at a council
meeting last year and asked for assistance in easily accessing medical
marijuana. Some called on the council to pass a non-conformity
ordinance that declares the city will not comply with federal law that
prohibits all marijuana use. In October, a handful of medical
marijuana users and supporters appealed to the council to pass a
concise and clear law.

Separate from adoption of the ordinance, we are recommending we put
together an outreach program," Mason said.

The outreach program would take longer to develop, but would help
explain to medical marijuana users the laws of the city and how they
relate to state and federal regulations, Mason said.

California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act,
in 1996, allowing sick patients to either grow their own marijuana or
have a primary caregiver grow it for them. In 2003, the state
Legislature passed the Medical Marijuana Program Act to clarify vague
portions of Proposition 215.

Cities remain stuck between the vague state law that allows medical
marijuana and federal law that prohibits it.

Following last year's raids, law enforcement officials claimed the
clubs were not acting as collectives. Owners and directors of the
clubs argued they are collectives because members are pooling their
money for marijuana, providing a safe place to buy it and access to
resources about using it.