COUNCIL SET TO VOTE ON MEDICAL POT LAW

Resolution Could Allow Dispensaries, Which Would Sell Marijuana To
Those With a Prescription

SAN LUIS OBISPO - Medical marijuana dispensaries could soon spring up
in San Luis Obispo.

The City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a resolution that could
allow dispensaries - centers for selling marijuana to people with a
doctor's prescription - to open under council guidelines.

Such dispensaries are currently legal under California law.

The council could also decide to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to
rule on whether medical marijuana is legal, or whether there should be
a ban on such facilities.

San Luis Obispo attorney Louis Koory represents clients who want to
open a dispensary. He has worked with City Councilwoman Christine
Mulholland, who brought the issue to the council.

She says the issue is a "no-brainer."

"People have the right to obtain it and use it for medical purposes,"
she said. "We have voted on it. It is legal in the state of
California," she said.

Mayor Dave Romero also supports medical marijuana.

"If the doctor thinks and the patient thinks this could help them, we
should allow it to be used in the city," he said.

The legal status of such pot clubs is unclear.

Federal law bans them, but in 1996 California voters passed the
Compassionate Use Act, which allows physicians to prescribe marijuana
to their patients.

People battling cancer and AIDS typically use marijuana because it
alleviates adverse side effects from the other medications they must
take.

Last year, the Legislature said the state Department of Health and
county health departments should regulate medical marijuana. But state
and county officials have yet to create rules to regulate prescribed
use of the drug.

Some California cities - including Oakland, Hayward and Placerville
- - have approved resolutions similar to the one to be debated Tuesday.

By letting the council and public debate the issue, a medical
marijuana center in San Luis Obispo could better meet the city's
safety and zoning needs, said Koory.

"One of the options was for my clients to open (an unregulated)
facility" legally under state law, he said. "We decided to work with
the city proactively to deal with this issue instead." He declined to
name his clients.

With the constitutionality of California's medical marijuana law being
tested, some city officials aren't sure opening a distribution center
is a good idea.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide next summer if states can
allow a federally banned drug to be sold at such dispensaries.

Police Chief Deborah Linden said she hopes the council waits for the
high court's ruling.

"The fact is there still is a conflict between federal and state law.
That is problematic," she said. "We believe (the court decision) will
provide important legal guidelines."

The experience of other cities, including a dispensary in Hayward that
was robbed, also worries her. Crime could increase around a center
opened here as well, she said.

Bruce Margolin, director of the Southern California branch of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, called that a
"scare tactic," saying there was no proof pot shops lead to increased
crime.

"There is plenty of marijuana available to most people," he said.
"What the dispensary provides is a place for sick people to feel safe.
They shouldn't be out on the streets exposed to the dangers of the
underground market."

Koory's proposal lets pot clubs set up identification cards for
patients with a doctor's prescription. Alarms and lighting would be
required to prevent break-ins.

Centers would not be allowed near schools and would have to apply for
a city permit every year, under the proposal.