VOTE CHANGES LITTLE ABOUT CITY POT POLICY

Measure Changes Little About Pot Policy

OAKLAND -- Although adult, private use of marijuana is now the Oakland
Police Department's lowest priority, the new law is all but certain to
face additional challenges.

According to unofficial election results, Measure Z won 64 percent of
the vote, delighting supporters who said Wednesday they hope the
victory heralds the end of the war on drugs in Oakland and starts a
chain reaction that ends with legalization of marijuana in California.

"With a couple more percentage points, we could have raised taxes,"
said Joe DeVries, one of the authors of the measure, referring to the
two-thirds margin needed to levy assessments in California. "But we're
not going to gloat."

Measure Z also requires the city to lobby the state to legalize adult
possession, cultivation, distribution and use of marijuana and set up
a system to tax and regulate the sale of the drug if it is
decriminalized.

But City Attorney John Russo said both of those provisions are
unconstitutional and cannot be implemented by city officials. And
since the Oakland Police Department does not have the manpower or the
will to arrest adults privately smoking marijuana, little will change,
Russo said.

"Measure Z doesn't change anything about the way the city does
business," Russo said.

Mayor Jerry Brown said the Police Department will continue to police
the open-air drug markets that lead to many of Oakland's murders and
use common sense in enforcing marijuana laws.

"It's symbolic more than anything else," Brown said.

Although Russo said he would be reluctant to challenge the measure in
court, "I hope it is thrown out," De La Fuente said. "It clearly goes
against state and federal law.It's far from a done deal."

DeVries said he is disappointed by De La Fuente's comments, adding
that a legal challenge of the ordinance would be a waste of taxpayers'
money.

"With 64 percent of the city voting for it, you'd think they'd want to
represent us," DeVries said. "The will of the people is clear."

Later this week, supporters of the measure will begin setting up an
advisory panel of citizens and law enforcement officials to draft
reasonable policies to allay concerns that dozens of smoke shops will
spring up overnight, DeVries said.

"We want to work with the city," DeVries said. "We want them to work
with us."

The successful campaign was largely funded by national groups
dedicated to the legalization of marijuana, including the Washington,
D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project.

The results of the election are expected to be certified by the
Alameda County Registrar of Voters on Nov. 30.