SHERIFF CALLS FOR HALT OF REVISION TO MEDICAL POT ORDINANCE

Supervisors Urged to Consult With Law Enforcement

OAKLAND -- Color him skeptical.

Sheriff Greg Ahern on Tuesday questioned the proposed update of
Alameda County's medical marijuana dispensaries ordinance and what
the regulation is trying to accomplish.

He wants county supervisors to call a temporary halt to a yearlong
ordinance revision and sit down with law enforcement to evaluate what
should be permitted.

"Do the governing officials of Alameda County want to have an
ordinance allowing easy access to marijuana by young adults, or do
they want to work on an ordinance that may provide a small, limited
amount of mariuana to elderly people who are very ill?" he asked.

Ahern clearly believes that young, healthy men are in the driver's
seat when it comes to buying cannabis at three county-permitted
marijuana sales outlets in Cherryland.

"You see a 25-year-old male running up (to the dispensary) and he
doesn't appear to be in any immediate need of medical marijuana,"
Ahern contended.

And, as sheriff's Capt. Dale Amaral noted, deputies eyeballing the
dispensaries don't see older people in wheelchairs, on crutches or
using oxygen tanks entering to buy marijuana.

Ahern's suggestion, which hasn't formally gone to supervisors yet,
surprised Supervisor Nate Miley, the county's point man on dispensaries.

The three Cherryland marijuana sales businesses are in his
supervisorial district.

"This is news to me," Miley said when told of Ahern's statements. "I
didn't know the sheriff didn't support the (revised) ordinance."

Miley noted that he supported, and law enforcement opposed,
California Proposition 215.

The voter-enacted law allows people with a valid doctor's
prescription to possess and cultivate pot for personal use.

While the county needs to eliminate abuse of the state law, "we can't
have such a restrictive ordinance that it won't allow patients to get
medical marijuana," Miley said.

The county issued operating permits to the three dispensaries during
the last two years. During this time, patrons have been the victims
of two homicides along with robberies and burglaries, Ahern said.

Amaral called the Compassionate Collective of Alameda County, on
Mission Boulevard in Cherryland, a "high-volume nuisance."

The proposed amendments to the current medical marijuana law would
allow the dispensaries to carry hashish, a more concentrated and
potent form of cannabis. The clinics also would be outlawed from
carrying food made with marijuana.