RICHMOND CAN'T DECIDE WHAT TO DO ABOUT POT

The city council votes to permit an unlimited number of medical
cannabis dispensaries even as the city attorney tries to shut them
down.

A new law passed by the Richmond City Council authorizing an unlimited
number of medical cannabis dispensaries appears to conflict with prior
legal injunctions against Richmond's eight pot clubs. The situation is
creating an awkward limbo-state for dispensary employees and calling
into question continued access for patients.

The injunctions, filed by the Richmond City Attorney's Office, could
conceivably force all of the city's current dispensaries out of
business before the law approved by the council last week goes into
full effect. If that were to happen, then medical pot patients in
Richmond would have to travel to Berkeley or Oakland to buy cannabis.

Richmond City prosecutor Trisha Aljoe said she plans to move forward
with the injunctions against the existing dispensaries. "At this
point, all of the dispensaries are still operating in violation of
current law," Aljoe said, citing the fact that according to city
zoning law, pot clubs are out of bounds, and noting that many of the
dispensary operators were less than straightforward on their permit
applications.

"A marijuana dispensary is not a legal use in this city," Aljoe said,
referring to Richmond law prior to the council's vote Tuesday night.
"Plus, they're operating without the proper license. The new ordinance
won't even be implemented until there's some sort of infrastructure
[to issue permits] in place. Until then, you can't operate in
violation of the law. Besides, it still has to pass the second reading."

The ordinance approved by the council allows for an unlimited number
of medical pot collectives licensed by the city manager - or his
designee - and permitted in any commercial district without "buffer"
requirements, meaning that various dispensaries may be located close
to one another, according to the ordinance's author and Richmond City
Attorney's office staffer, Mary Renfro. Councilman Tom Butt called it
"the most liberal and wide-open pot ordinance in the state of
California - maybe the whole country."

Jay Newell, a partner at one of Richmond's dispensaries, the Golden
State Health Center, said he was pleased with the council's 4-3 vote
in favor of the new ordinance. However, he said he still fears that
his livelihood and the health of his customers are in jeopardy. "It's
better than what we had before," he said. "But they didn't come out
and say they'd stop the lawsuits. I applaud their willingness to do
something, but I don't think patients should suffer because city
management doesn't follow the instructions of city council."