WORKING TO MAKE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS FIT WITH COMMUNITY'S NEEDS

AS author of Oakland's original medical cannabis ordinance, I would like
to share my thoughts about ways to serve all of our goals, including
compassion and public safety.

After California voters adopted Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing
medical cannabis through-

out the state, the city of Oakland showed great leadership by adopting
standards to regulate medical cannabis to ensure safe access to patients
in need. By authorizing medical cannabis dispensaries, our city showed
common sense -- keeping cannabis and patients off the streets and out of
the cross hairs of dangerous drug dealers.

Unfortunately, the federal government stopped the first licensed
dispensary, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, almost immediately
after it opened. The dispensaries that have since opened are not at fault
for the confusing situation they are in. The Oakland City Council tried to
enact sensible regulations, but those who complied were persecuted by the
federal government. I personally was called upon to testify in the now
infamous Ed Rosenthal trial, where the jurors were not allowed to hear my
testimony that Rosenthal was providing medicine to patients.

Some have suggested that Oakland should back away from our stance on
this issue. I think we should take pride in the fact that Oakland took a
leadership role for justice and compassion -- and that others are
following our lead.

Recent history shows that Oakland's actions were the leading edge of a
larger wave. Eight additional states have passed laws authorizing the use
of medical cannabis. Dozens of dispensaries exist in other Bay Area
cities. Recently, there have been dramatic legal advances which only serve
to confirm the justness of Oakland's position.

The California Legislature has enacted SB420, a bill that helps protect
the right of medical cannabis patients. Even the U.S. Supreme Court got
into the act, rejecting a Bush administration request to prosecute doctors
who recommend medical cannabis.

We should continue to hope and advocate for a more sensible federal
policy. In the meantime, we should adopt interim regulations that make
medical cannabis safe and affordable for patients, while requiring
sensible steps to regulate the operation, such as ventilation requirements
and providing security personnel. Cannabis dispensaries should be approved
or rejected on the basis of their compliance with these standards, and in
response to any complaints.

It is important that patients have the option of consuming their
medicine on-site, both so they have an environment of mutual support to
break down the isolation that many patients experience due to their
illnesses and in order to prevent consumption in public. The medical
cannabis providers are not the ones who have put the City Council in a
quandary. At recent hearings on the subject, not one person spoke in
opposition to the cannabis dispensaries. Those providing a service
authorized by the voters of our state should not be treated like criminals
- -- they are upholding the law. If Oakland has a quandary, it is caused by
the federal administration.

Let us enact sensible regulations to make sure that cannabis
dispensaries operate in a clean, safe, responsible manner and are good
neighbors, and are able to continue to contribute to the health and
economic vitality of our community.