ANTI-SMOKING LAWS THREATEN 'OAKSTERDAM'

City Warns at Least One Club

OAKLAND -- The city's conflict with medical marijuana clubs in the
"Oaksterdam" area continued this week, when one club was threatened
with hundreds of dollars in fines for violating Oakland's anti-smoking
laws.

The city sent a letter Friday to the 420 Cafe on Telegraph Avenue,
charging the club with violating city ordinances by allowing patrons
to smoke inside and outside the building, and by not posting "No
Smoking" signs.

The club could face fines of up to $500 per violation, according to
the letter, which ends "Thank you for helping to make the City of
Oakland a healthier place."

Club employees could not be reached for comment late
Friday.

The 420 Cafe is one of about eight medical cannabis clubs in the area.
Some city leaders say the clubs cater to recreational pot smokers, and
have vowed to close most of the businesses and regulate the rest.

Club owners say they serve thousands of sick patients and are
revitalizing the neighborhood.

The city's municipal code bans smoking of both cigarettes and "weed"
in "all businesses patronized by the public."

City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (San Antonio-Fruitvale), a
leading opponent of un-regulated pot clubs, said other clubs may get
letters if they're found violating the anti-smoking laws.

"Letters are going to the ones violating the laws" De La Fuente said.
"It might be one and it might be three.

"If it was up to me," De La Fuente added, "We would have shut them
down yesterday."

De La Fuente said the City Council will consider his proposal later
this month to close all but three clubs, which he said would be
regulated like bars or "cabarets."

There were a few dozen people -- but no sign of marijuana smoke --
outside a row of clubs on Telegraph Avenue on Friday evening.

Oakland was one of the first cities to legitimize the use of medical
marijuana by deputizing a former club on Broadway. But that club was
shut down by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 1998, and a number of
businesses sprang up in the neighborhood to replace it.