SAN JOSE STARTS RESTRICTIONS ON POT CLUBS AS THEY PROLIFERATE IN
NEIGHBORHOODS

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been sprouting up recently in
neighborhoods throughout San Jose, including at least 13 in the
greater Rose Garden and Willow Glen areas, and the San Jose City
Council on June 22 broadened its power to shut down troublemaking
clubs near schools and other sensitive areas.

Complaints from residents drove some of the changes, especially from
parents at Alphabet Soup Preschool on De Anza Boulevard in West San
Jose. Since the California Cannabis Collective moved next door to the
preschool this spring, parents said they have seen marijuana pipes in
the preschool's parking lot. They also feared that patients were
driving under the influence after multiple daily visits to the club.

The new city law says that code enforcement officials can close pot
clubs within 500 feet of schools, homes, daycare centers, community
centers, parks, trails, libraries, rehab centers and churches with
on-site daycare centers or schools. The council said officers should
tamp down only on collectives that draw complaints.

"We should do what we can control, and we can definitely control the
land use," said Joe Horwedel, San Jose's director of planning,
building and code enforcement. "We can bring harmony to the
neighborhoods, and I just think we need to manage this today."

The council also ordered a July survey to gauge support of a city tax
on marijuana sales. The city cannot tax marijuana unless voters
approve both the city's measure and a state measure to liberalize
marijuana in November.

Another community meeting on pot club rules is planned for July 20,
and the council plans to consider a more comprehensive law on Aug.
3.

Passage of the state and city measures essentially would set up
recreational cannabis sales in San Jose, which is not far from today's
situation. Insiders estimate that 55,000 city residents hold
prescriptions for medicinal marijuana, and they are served by more
than 60 clubs.

Patients who suffer from cancer, HIV, epilepsy and other medical
problems can alleviate pain with the drug, but prescriptions are
routinely granted for more vague symptoms such as anxiety and body
pain.

The San Jose Patients Group at 824 The Alameda is now advertising
on-site doctor referrals, and a 24-hour referral center called 420
Evaluations is set to open on July 1 at 115 N. Fourth St.

James Suner, a developer who helped set up the San Jose Patients
Group, said the degree of legitimacy in the prescriptions is strictly
between patient and doctor.

"Quite a few of the patients we have are legitimate patients. People
really do have arthritis and bad knees and bad backs and bad
shoulders. So instead of medicating with alcohol or pharmaceuticals,
here's a naturally grown product," Suner said.

Opponents have countered that the drug is addictive, and the clubs
make it easier for minors to get secondhand access to pot.

Some cannabis club owners are also more responsible, better
capitalized and better neighbors than others, Suner said. He pointed
out that ARC Healing Center at 885 W. Julian St. and Harborside Health
Center in North San Jose. Harborside recently held a Red Cross blood
drive.

Some of the newer clubs include MedMar Healing Center at 170 S. Autumn
St., which had a grand opening barbecue on June 26. New Age Healing
Collective is open at 914 S. Bascom Ave., Herb Appeal at 450 Drake
St., MHPC at 455= Meridian Ave., Cinnabar Health Collective at 910
Cinnabar St., and Amsterdam's Garden at 2170 The Alameda.

In Willow Glen, MediLeaf has opened its doors at 1340 Meridian Ave.
and Herbal Leaf Care Collective is across the Caltrain tracks at 1621
Almaden Road.

It is unclear if any clubs are operating in the Almaden Valley,
although one has opened on Santa Teresa Boulevard.

Two collectives are open near Coleman Avenue and Interstate 880. The
San Jose Cannabis Buyers Collective is near Lowe's at 1082 Stockton
Ave., and the University Avenue Wellness Center is at 630 University
Ave.

University advertises its "discrete location" (sic) in the pages of
Metro Silicon Valley, as well as "Happy hour prices all day long!"

More clubs are listed at www.sanjosecannabisclubs.com/directory.

Several residents and marijuana patients at the June 22 council agreed
that the dispensaries should be distanced from schoolchildren.

The Holistic Pain Management Institute at 1860 S. 10th St. is next
door to the Vietnamese American Academy at 1850 S. 10th St., and a
woman involved with the school said the club had caused parents "a
fair amount of heartburn."