MULTIPLE MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUBS BUD IN SILICON VALLEY

Rice crispy treats, lollipops, cookies and marijuana in its
traditional form are offered at the San Jose Cannabis Buyers
Collective, San Jose's first medical marijuana dispensary.

"I think it's a long time coming," said Erika Taylor Montgomery,
spokeswoman for the dispensary. "There are over 75, 000 patients in
San Jose and there were no medical dispensaries."

Montgomery, a patient at the dispensary, said patients previously had
to travel to San Francisco, Oakland or Santa Cruz to purchase their
medical marijuana which was time consuming and also dangerous for
patients who suffer from diseases like Parkinson's disease.

The dispensary opened four months ago and currently has a little
under 2,000 registered patients, Montgomery said.

Students who have a verifiable medical marijuana card and are found
with an amount of marijuana that does not exceed their prescribed
amount will not have it confiscated, said Michael Santos, detective
sergeant for the University Police Department.

"We have dealt with medical marijuana in our past and know how to
deal with people who have medical marijuana," Santos said. "We have
no opposition to it and we don't have any position on having one
(dispensary) in San Jose."

The dispensary is the only dispensary that requires its patients to
be over 21 years old in San Jose and gives new patients a two-day
waiting period before they can purchase medical marijuana, Montgomery
said.

The two-day waiting period allows for the dispensary to verify that
the card is not counterfeit and time to check with the patient's
physicians, she said.

"All other clubs sell to those 18 years and older, but we don't
because someone who is 18 may still be in high school, and we don't
want to be in a position where we are serving students," Montgomery
said.

The dispensary has no limit on how much marijuana they sell their
patients since some may not visit very often and like to stock up on
it in one visit, she said.

Montgomery said she is aware some may possibly think of re-selling
their medical marijuana, though it is clearly stated that is not
allowed, but there would be no advantage since the price of it in the
dispensary is the same as it would be for a street dealer.

Five other dispensaries have opened in San Jose within the last three
weeks, Montgomery said.

"We are somewhat concerned that they opened so quickly and hope San
Jose sets rules and regulations for the dispensaries," she said.

Montgomery said she thinks this is a tremendous step toward the
legalization of marijuana.

She said as long as the city sets guidelines, situations like the one
in Los Angeles, where there are over 500 unregulated dispensaries, can
be avoided.

"I don't think San Jose citizens want that here," Montgomery
said.

Kasey Rose, a junior child development major, said she thinks
marijuana should be legalized.

"(The) crime rate will go down and we can tax it," she
said.

Santos said he thinks there are other cities or counties with many
dispensaries, but that hasn't led to the legalization of marijuana in
the state.

He said he thinks it will take a lot more for than many dispensaries
opening for society to accept the legalization of marijuana.