OAKLAND POT PERMITS RUN INTO LEGAL OBSTACLES

Even as dozens of would-be pot planters showed up at Oakland City
Hall last week to apply for permits to operate city-sanctioned
marijuana farms, there were signs that the trailblazing effort to
redefine the reefer industry might be going up in smoke. The four
available permits, going for $211,000 apiece, may not be worth the
paper they're written on. For starters, City Attorney John Russo has
declined to put his signature on the city ordinance that created the permits.

The absence of Russo's approval will not stop the permits from being
issued, but it does bring into question their legal standing. "The
issue of production of cannabis is a legal thicket, and everyone
knows it," Russo said. He declined to comment further, but word is
federal authorities recently called his office and made it clear that
they don't intend to look the other way to Oakland's flaunting of
federal prohibitions on growing and selling marijuana in bulk. Former
US attorney for Northern California Joe Russoniello said the Obama
Administration and Attorney General Eric Holder have made it clear
both publicly and in memos that they plan to bust large pot-growing
operations like those being proposed in Oakland. Would the city
legally defend the permits after a federal bust? "We haven't
discussed it, but I doubt we would," City Council President Jane
Brunner said. Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, whose office has been
contacted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration looking for
information on the city's legislation, said it's "no big deal" that
Russo plans to step aside if DEA agents roll into town. "If it
happens, we have a normal procedure to use outside counsel," Kaplan said.