DUTCH COMPANY ENTERS OAKLAND POT SCENE

Medical grower hopes to impact the market - and make some cash

On a recent afternoon in Kensington, Michael Sautman was talking on
one phone with a reporter when another phone started ringing with a
call from Israel, where his company is competing to grow medical
marijuana on behalf of the government.

Sautman is the American CEO of Bedrocan International, one of
the first transnational marijuana enterprises, and its arrival in the
East Bay this year demonstrates just how important the local cannabis
economy has become on a global scale. As Oakland and Berkeley gear up
to offer commercial pot cultivation permits, Sautman and his
colleagues aim to position themselves in the rapidly expanding
marketplace of "cannabusinesses," make money and help professionalize
the industry. Ultimately, Sautman's vision is to use the American
pharmaceutical drug-approval process to legalize marijuana nationwide.

Bedrocan International is an offshoot of Bedrocan BV, the medical
marijuana producer contracted by the Dutch government to supply
standardized, pharmaceutical-grade cannabis to pharmacies there. It's
one of only a handful of companies of its kind, and Sautman is hoping
to leverage the firm's unique pedigree by consulting with California
cultivators who would like to upgrade their operations to a similar
pharmaceutical model.

"Their arrival here in California is very timely," said Victoria
Garzouzi, a chemist who consults in the marijuana industry. "They are
ahead of a lot of the folks here."

Sautman said his company is also aiming to get its pharmaceutical pot
system approved by the U.S. Food And Drug Administration.

"The FDA is the jewel in the crown worldwide," he said. "Anybody who
is engaged in the process would want to get their drug through the
FDA."

The FDA approval process takes years and costs millions. But if
Bedrocan is successful, Sautman said, it could trigger the feds to
legalize marijuana. Presently the U.S. government classifies the drug
as schedule I, meaning there is "no currently accepted medical use."

There are many regulatory barriers to Bedrocan's plan.

To do FDA-approved marijuana research, scientists must get the drug
from a federally approved source. There is only one in the nation - at
the University of Mississippi - and getting government permission to
use its product is tough. Scientists could also presumably cultivate
their own research marijuana, but they need federal permission for
that too, and so far their requests have been denied.

"It's a real regulatory knot," said Dale Gieringer, the director of
the marijuana advocacy organization California NORML.

But Sautman said his company could get around the issue by importing
its supply from the Netherlands.

"Any progress that Bedrocan makes moves us all forward," wrote Rick
Dobin, the executive director of a nonprofit group that advocates for
clinical trials with psychedelic drugs, in an e-mail. Bedrocan's
arrival does not signal a Dutch takeover of the Bay Area pot scene,
however. Marijuana growers and hobbyists from Holland and California
have commingled for decades, according to Robert

MacCoun, an expert in Dutch and American drug policy.

Ed Rosenthal, a Bay Area-based marijuana cultivation expert who spends
about a quarter of his time in the Netherlands as a "migrant farm
laborer," agreed.

"If you're looking for the story of the Dutch invasion, that isn't
happening," Rosenthal said. He said the uncertain legal status of
medical marijuana in California still makes it an unappealing
destination to most Dutch producers. "This is considered the heart of
the anti-[pot] culture. So most companies are afraid to come over
here," he said.