HEMPERY OWNER MAY SETTLE DRUG CHARGES

Adams' Public Defender May Not Test State's Medical Marijuana Law

HAYWARD -- Former medical marijuana dispensary owner Cheryl Adams is
beginning to give up on the idea of becoming Hayward's Ed Rosenthal.

Adams, 31, who used to own the now closed Hayward Hempery and its
dispensary in downtown Hayward, faces felony drug possession charges
stemming from an arrest last December in Newark. She was allegedly driving
with 29 separate small plastic bags of marijuana and 13 bags of concen
trated cannabis, or hash, according to court records.

Following a court preceding Wednesday morning at the Hayward Hall of
Justice, Adams said she can't afford a private attorney, and her public
defender might want to settle the case.

That would nip in the bud Adam's interest in fighting her case -- much like
medical marijuana activist Rosenthal did -- as one of the first tests of a
related new state law that recognizes collective groups for medical
marijuana patients and caregivers. Brian Bloom, her public defender of
record, declined to comment on the case.

No trial date has yet been set. Adams' next scheduled proceeding,
"disposition and setting," is Sept. 15, when attorneys on both sides will
meet to see if there is any resolution before the case is set for trial.

Adams was arrested about 12:20 a.m. Dec. 12 in front of the TownPlace
Suites hotel on Cedar Boulevard in Newark, where she was living at the
time. She allegedly was driving home after picking up her 7-year-old son
from a babysitter, she said. The Hempery's safe was broken, she explained,
so she had to bring her product home, she added.

Adams was charged and arraigned on felony counts of possession of marijuana
for sale, transportation of drugs and possession of cannabis concentrate,
or hash. In her backpack, police found 5.32 pounds of marijuana, with a
street value of almost $50,000, according to court records. They also found
13 grams of hash, worth $390.

In a preliminary hearing in late June at the Fremont Hall of Justice, Cole
Powell, the Fremont-based public defender to which Adams was initially
assigned, alluded to the new state law in his cross-examination of a Newark
police detective who specializes in marijuana investigations.

Agent Todd Young said that, based on the plastic bags found on Adams, as
well as the shotgun, revolver and ammunition found, he would conclude that
the marijuana was possessed for resale. But, speaking hypothetically, Young
said, if someone can prove that he or she is a caregiver for 20 or more
patients, his opinion might change under the new law.

In addition to recognizing collective groups and caretakers, Senate Bill
420, signed into law in October by Gov. Gray Davis, established a state
photo identification card registry for medical marijuana patients. It
didn't go into effect until Jan. 1, which was after Adams was arrested.

Adams, who is living with her mother in Hayward, said she's been
disappointed that the medical marijuana activist community hasn't been
willing to help her. She had hoped Oakland-based civil rights attorney John
Burris would take her case, but he turned it down.

Adams did get some assistance earlier this year from an anonymous Tennyson
High School graduate who partnered with her when he learned she was being
evicted from the Hempery building. That arrangement didn't work, and Adams
was eventually evicted anyway.

The Hempery also came close to closing last November amid the Hayward City
Council's debate about whether to sanction what were three downtown
dispensaries operating against the city's zoning law around Foothill
Boulevard and B Street.

The council decided to grandfather in the other two dispensaries and the
Hempery's Hayward Patient Group. The council rationalized that the other
two facilities had better reputations and looked better upon visits from
council members.

But Adams complained to city officials that she hadn't participated in the
council debate up to that point because she didn't realize her facility,
the oldest dispensary in the area, was at risk of being shut down. She
challenged the issue, and the council ended up grandfathering in her
facility and the Local Patients Cooperative for three years under certain
restrictions.

The newer Hayward Patients' Resource Center ended up getting The Hempery's
three-year grandfathering clause once it closed.

Amid the debate, several members of the dispensary community said they were
also concerned that Adams' business involved harder drugs than marijuana,
but they asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. That
allegation is something Adams repeatedly denied.

Adams said the whole ordeal put her into a depression, but she's finally
getting back on her feet and is ultimately relieved to be out of the
business. She said she has plans to open a restaurant in the Livermore area.

She added that she's glad her patients have other dispensaries to help them
because "that was my goal, to provide for my patients."