PATIENTS MUST GO TO CLUBS ELSEWHERE

If you are a medicinal-marijuana patient in Santa Clara County, there is no
place to buy medicine from a legitimate dispensary. To meet state rules,
you either have to grow it yourself or use a dispensary elsewhere.

That's because city after city has turned away prospective operators since
1996, when 56 percent of the state's voters approved Proposition 215
sanctioning medicinal-marijuana use.

San Jose, which in 1997 became the first city in the nation to write an
ordinance setting up dispensary rules, took it off the books a few years
ago, pending court decisions. Now City Attorney Rick Doyle says his reading
of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June makes such dispensaries open to
federal prosecution and he'd advise the council against approving one.

Santa Clara's head of planning cited the same court ruling recently to deny
an application by an Oakland-based dispensary, Dragonfly Holistic
Solutions, that had to shut down because of Oakland's new cap on the number
of dispensaries. Their San Francisco branch was shut, too, because it
violated that city's moratorium while it considers new rules.

Supporters of medicinal marijuana say the high court never ruled on the
constitutionality of California's Proposition 215 and that cities are using
the decision as an "easy out."

Santa Clara County has an ordinance covering unincorporated areas, but the
rules are so strict that only a handful of applicants have ever shown
interest, and none operate now.

But that doesn't mean there won't be more attempts.

City officials in Mountain View have had informal talks with a prospective
pot-club operator, and the council has directed the city staff to examine
the legal and zoning issues involved.

San Jose attorney Daniel Halpern represents a small group of medicinal
marijuana patients, calling themselves Epicare, whose members say they want
to fill what they describe as a large need for a dispensary somewhere in
the county. They are looking for a willing landlord and sympathetic local
officials.

"Some cities are willing to stick out their neck regardless of what the law
says. So far there have been no consequences," said Halpern. But, following
the U.S. Supreme Court decision, he added, "There is a general atmosphere
of extreme caution."

Beginning possibly as early as fall, Santa Clara County's health department
plans to issue state-sanctioned medicinal marijuana cards to patients who
can prove a doctor has recommended they use marijuana for ailments. It's
required of counties to issue the cards under state law.

The cards are voluntary for patients, but more often dispensaries are
requiring such cards for entry, or at the very least a letter from a
doctor. Santa Clara County residents who qualify will be able to use their
cards at dispensaries in other counties or show them to law enforcement
officials should they be questioned for possessing or growing marijuana
within legal thresholds.

State officials are warning the cards may not protect against federal
prosecution.

Mary Anne Ostrom