COUNCIL REVISITS POT CLUB MORATORIUM

SAN PABLO: Yearlong Extension Of Ordinance Stopping Openings Of New
Facilities Faces Vote Tonight

San Pablo could become the latest East Bay city to punt -- and more
than once -- on the issue of medical marijuana. Tonight the City
Council is expected to vote on an emergency ordinance that would
extend for a second year a moratorium on medical marijuana
dispensaries, popularly known as cannabis clubs.

The point of the moratorium, according to the text of the ordinance,
is to protect the public from possible adverse effects of cannabis
clubs locally while the conflict on medical marijuana between the
state and the federal government plays out.

In a report to the council, City Attorney Brian Libow also raises
the specter that the City Council could be accused of aiding and
abetting a federal crime if it permits medical marijuana dispensaries.

In 1996, California voters approved the medical use of marijuana on
the recommendation of a doctor. The federal government, however,
classifies marijuana as an illegal drug with no medical use.

About 50 California cities have moratoriums on the openings of
cannabis clubs. Twenty-four cities and three counties have
ordinances to regulate them and about 15 cities have bans, according
to Libow's report.

Albany and Pinole extended their moratoriums for a second year in
April; Oakley did so in March.

Concord banned medical marijuana dispensaries last year and has been
sued in a state court by Americans For Safe Access, a
patient-advocacy group. Many cities are watching that case as well
as another suit by the same group against the city of Fresno. But
Albany City Attorney Robert Zweben said in April, "We won't see an
appellate court decision for probably a year or more" in those cases.

Cities with no reference to cannabis clubs in their zoning
ordinances lack a legal mechanism to stop them from opening unless
they enact moratoriums. Even then, dispensaries that already exist
remain, at least for the time being. It is to avoid such a scenario
that San Pablo enacted its initial 45-day moratorium in May 2005 and
a subsequent 101/2-month extension that expires May 15.

San Pablo has received one inquiry from someone seeking to open a
cannabis club and can expect to receive more, Libow said in his report.

Among possible adverse effects of cannabis clubs he cited were
loitering, parking and traffic violations, increased vehicular and
pedestrian traffic, complaints from neighbors and crimes such as burglary.

Libow said state Attorney General Bill Lockyer is considering
issuing a legal opinion whether government employees in the state
violate the federal law when they issue medical marijuana ID cards,
or similarly if a police officer returns marijuana to someone who
shows such an ID card or if a judge orders the return of marijuana
to a patient.

The same question could be applied to a city council that passes a
medical marijuana regulating ordinance, Libow argued.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court cases affirmed the federal government's
right to prosecute people who use medical marijuana even in states
that permit the use.