POT CLUB ASKS CITY FOR HELP

For more than a year, the Patient's Choice Resource Cooperative
distributed marijuana to 800 members quietly in San Mateo -- until
federal drug agents closed down the operation Wednesday.

Now the lead director of PCRC is making some noise, urging the San
Mateo City Council to enact a policy that supports marijuana
dispensaries for sick patients. Meanwhile, city officials say there
is no plan to enact any marijuana dispensary policy. Instead, they
will follow state and federal laws which make no provisions for such uses.

PCRC, located at 164 South Blvd., was one of three San Mateo
dispensaries raided by Drug Enforcement Agents and San Mateo Police
Wednesday. The other two dispensaries are located at 397 S. Claremont
St. and 60 Third Ave., according to a list online list of San Mateo
cannabis clubs. With search warrants in hand, agents discovered 50
pounds of processed marijuana, hash, marijuana-laced edibles and
$30,000 in cash.

"I don't see how they can just come in here ... it's rude," PCRC
director Johnrico Carrnshimba said of Wednesday's raids. "I've tried
to keep an open line of communication with them the whole time."

PCRC obtained its business license through the city and opened more
than a year ago near the corner of El Camino Real and Tilton Avenue.
At that time, PCRC invited police to visit the center and was willing
to make changes to comply with the law. Changes PCRC made include
providing a caregiver on site and increasing the amount of
educational resources available for patients. Police also claimed the
center was for profit rather than nonprofit, Carrnshimba said.

Carrnshimba insists the center is not for profit, adding that agents
only seized approximately $200 and enough marijuana to serve five to
six patients.

PCRC opened in June 2006 with a business license from the city and a
card to provide marijuana issued by San Mateo Medical Center. Its
cooperative membership allows it to see about five or six patients a
week. It has a special resource center, holds meetings and provides
consultation for patients, Carrnshimba said.

Patients must have a state medical marijuana card issued by San Mateo
Medical Center, a doctor's recommendation and valid state
identification, Carrnshimba said.

The main point of contention between the clubs and police is how much
they were a cooperative and how much they were a dispensary making
money off the sale of marijuana. A cooperative is when patients pool
their resources to cultivate and distribute marijuana. That is
something the three clubs were not doing, said District Attorney Jim Fox.

"The only thing they are collecting is money," Fox said.

There is no federal law regulating medical marijuana. State law
passed in 1996 regulating medical marijuana is vague. With proper
approval, the law allows state residents to grow medical marijuana
themselves, allow a primary caregiver to grow it for them or
participate in a cooperative. A number of state court of appeals
decisions have cleared some of the ambiguity and ruled that the law
does not apply to dispensaries, Fox said.

San Mateo County will enforce the state law. However, individual
cities are free to form their own laws governing medical marijuana
centers. South San Francisco recently passed an ordinance limiting
the centers. Colma voted last week to ban them.

The city of San Mateo has no plans to draft any ordinances supporting
or prohibiting the centers, City Manager Arne Croce said.

Carrnshimba plans to address the City Council at its Tuesday meeting.
He still feels slighted by local officials who allowed him to open
the center. He tried to do right by local and state ordinances,
maintain a friendly relationship with police and was still shut down, he said.

"It's sort of sad that they decided to do this and how they did it,"
Carrnshimba said. "We're only helping people here."