COUNCIL LOOKS TO TRIM NUMBER OF POT CLUBS

Disputed Plan Would Allow Maximum Of Four Dispensaries In Oakland

OAKLAND -- The City Council will consider a plan next month to prune
back the flourishing medical cannabis trade to a maximum of four local
clubs.

The dozen or so pot clubs already operating in Oakland would have to
apply for city permits to remain open, and those that don't make the
city's cut would be shut down as of June 1.

The wide-ranging regulations put together by Council President Ignacio
De La Fuente (San Antonio-Fruitvale) and Councilmember Jean Quan
(Montclair-Laurel) would prohibit smoking at the clubs and require
dispensaries to operate on a not-for-profit basis.

With the number of patients growing and neighboring cities putting
limits on the number of pot clubs, the six original dispensaries in
Oakland have doubled and the city has become the center of the medical
cannabis movement.

Most of the clubs are clustered around the original Oakland Cannabis
Buyers Cooperative (OCBC) at the intersection of Broadway and
Telegraph avenues, but some have spread to other parts of the city.
Some operate as cafes or small membership-only collectives, while
others are more like holistic health clinics.

Jeff Jones, founder of the Oakland cooperative -- which screens
patients and issues identification cards but no longer dispenses
medical cannabis -- welcomed the new regulations.

The rules are intended to allow the dispensaries, growers and users to
operate openly, but said he disagrees with many details of the
proposal -- especially the four-club limit.

"I don't see this as Draconian, I just hope we can find a way to make
it friendlier to our community," Jones said. "We view it as a
compromise the community has to make with the community to keep it
safe and regulated."

Four dispensaries will under-serve the community, especially as the
number of medical cannabis patients continues to grow as more doctors
feel comfortable with prescribing the drug and more patients ask for
it, Jones said.

The OCBC has registered more than 23,000 people and has about 2,600
members in Oakland, Jones said. Still more patients patronize other
clubs without getting an Oakland cannabis card.

Jones said he planned to propose a limit of nine to 12 clubs, although
he would accept a compromise of six to eight outlets.

Berkeley permits four clubs and Hayward has three, even though both
cities have only a fraction of Oakland's population, Jones said.

Kenny Mostern, spokesman for the Uptown Merchants Association, a
coalition of four cannabis-related businesses and seven non-cannabis
businesses, agreed four is not enough.

"The limit will lead to long lines for patients and more problems on
the streets, since patients will spill outside," Mostern said. "The
people trying to regulate see the dispensaries as a problem, instead
of businesses that are operating legally in the state of California
and helping to develop downtown."

Mostern also said his group opposes the ban on smoking at the
clubs.

"That is absolutely horrible for patients, and it will mean people
taking their medication in the streets or in their cars," Mostern said.

An assessment based on information provided by the clubs estimated
about3,000 Oakland residents patronize medical cannabis clubs. A
well-run club should be able to serve 500 to 1,500 patients and
caregivers, making the four-club limit adequate, De La Fuente said.

Some clubs are operating too loosely and are allowing marijuana to be
resold on the street, De La Fuente said.

If the ordinance is adopted, the City Council will review the
four-club limit in one year to determine whether more are needed.
Groups with more than three members will be required to obtain a city
permit, which will range in cost from$5,000 to $20,000, depending on
the number of patients and caregivers.

The revised ordinance would order the Oakland Police Department to
make the permitted clubs a low priority, while prohibiting them from
locating within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, library,
youth center, residential zone, another dispensary, park or recreation
facility.

Right now there is a youth center near Oakland's cluster of medical
marijuana clubs downtown, the Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda
County. It's uncertain whether its location would force medical
marijuana clubs from Broadway and Telegraph.

Last fall, De La Fuente advocated shutting down all the dispensaries
but one. However, the proposal was rejected by the council, which has
been crafting new regulations behind closed doors for the past three
months.

California voters adopted Proposition 215, legalizing medical
marijuana, in 1996. Federal issues surrounding the law are still
murky; an Oakland woman just won a crucial legal victory allowing her
to use pot and have a caregiver grow it for her.

Richard Meyer, a Drug Enforcement Administration representative for
the Bay Area, said the clubs could be shut at any time because federal
policy deems marijuana an illegal drug.

Meanwhile, a new state law, which has yet to be funded, would set up a
voluntary registry for marijuana patients and set further guidelines
for its distribution.

Staff Writer Heather MacDonald contributed to this
report.