THE FIGHT AGAINST MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISN'T WORTH IT

Tucked away in the corner of a strip mall on Gilroy's west side, near
a dance studio and a martial arts center, is a storefront clinic
called MediLeaf, a medical marijuana dispensary with a small cannabis
leaf on its sign.

On a wallboard inside is the message, "To love oneself is a long
romance." Under that is the practical admonition, "We accept credit cards."

Since it opened without a business license three months ago, MediLeaf
has caused an uproar in a town still smarting over the death of a
15-year-old girl after a night of drinking. As opponents see it,
MediLeaf is a mecca for potheads, criminals and other bad actors. In
many ways, the legal battle now unfolding offers a peek at what's
likely to happen in San Jose and other towns that are confronting
objections to marijuana dispensaries. If Gilroy offers a lesson, it's
this: A full-out fight isn't worth it.

Almost all decisions in local politics turn on choice. You spend
here, you scrimp there. In a town that has had to lay off employees
in the police department, the decision to press a dubious legal case
that could cost $300,000 or more doesn't hold water.

Here's a short version of the saga: Back in 1996, voters approved
Proposition 215, which allowed for the sale of medical marijuana.
Under President George W. Bush, the feds frowned on such sales and
raided dispensaries.

Last October, however, the Obama administration's attorney general,
Eric Holder, said patients who use medical marijuana with state
blessing will not face federal prosecution. And that has ushered in a
thriving subculture of marijuana clinics.

NIMBY Issues

MediLeaf says it negotiated with Gilroy officials for months and ran
into the standard not-in-my-backyard problems. Finally, contending
that it did not need a business license as a collective, MediLeaf
opened on Nov. 9 near First Street and Westwood Drive.

A week later, in a closed session, the City Council authorized the
city's law firm to begin legal action against MediLeaf. Three council
members boycotted the meeting, saying certain issues should be
discussed openly.

Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy agreed that the city's action
transgressed the state's open-meeting laws, and he denied a
preliminary injunction that could have closed MediLeaf down
immediately. A legal war of the trenches has ensued.

Some people in Gilroy, led by Councilman Perry Woodward, think the
city didn't get very good advice from its law firm, which has
defended the closed session. Woodward has pushed for a cap on legal
fees. Others feel strongly that the city should spend whatever it takes.

No Crime Wave

My point here, however, isn't to make a judgment on legal strategy.
Nor am I passing judgment on medical marijuana. I know it helps some
people. I'm just as aware that it isn't very hard to get one of those
notes from a doctor.

Nor am I against reasonable land-use controls. But I haven't seen any
evidence that MediLeaf contributes to a wave of teenage narcotics
use. Given that other medical marijuana collectives are delivering in
Gilroy, I think we're dealing with a modern-day Prohibition. We all
know how well that turned out.

"For me, the potential of spending $300,000 to $600,000 to shut down
this one dispensary, when we're not going to get closure, is not good
fiscal policy," says Woodward. And while his words are cautious, the
point is clear: Drop it.