COMMISSION OKS MEDICAL POT PLAN

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Law enforcement officials here want dispensers
of medical marijuana to serve as honest farmers who keep their harvest
safely out of the public eye. Thursday night, the city's Planning
Commission voted 5 to 1 to back their plan for keeping marijuana
cultivation anonymously inside buildings, and banning storefronts
selling pot.

"Some of this product is sold much like gourmet coffee," said Sgt.
Alan Normandy, the South San Francisco police officer who spearheaded
the new ordinance, speaking of medical marijuana dispensaries in other
cities.

The proposed law, which now goes to City Council for a vote on March
22, requires any collective of individuals growing marijuana to
cultivate the crops at least 500 yards from residential areas, and to
raise the plants inside buildings to prevent theft by juveniles or
drugand head of the campaign.