OAKLAND AT ODDS OVER CANNABIS CLUBS

City Undecided On Limits, Regulations For Booming Dispensaries

OAKLAND -- The city is grappling with the sticky issue of how to regulate
medical marijuana outlets, and a three-hour committee hearing Tuesday did
little to resolve key questions such as whether the number should be
limited or whether special permits should be required.

Cannabis clubs, attracted by the city's supportive view toward medical
marijuana as well as cheap rents and comraderie, have been proliferating
downtown, especially in the triangle between Telegraph Avenue, Broadway and
17th and 19th streets.

There are now seven to 11 cannabis clubs in town, and the "Uptown" area has
taken on new life and a new nickname: Oaksterdam. The clubs are clustered
around the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, credited with pioneering
responsible pot distribution methods but embroiled in federal litigation
over its legality.

The city had turned a blind eye to the dispensaries until recently, when
Council President Ignacio De La Fuente threatened to shut them all down and
allow only a single outlet to operate.

"I want to make it available for those seriously ill people," De La Fuente
said. "We had a policy that was enacted for a reason. Now we have people
doing it for profit and recreation, rather than medicine."

The council's Public Safety Committee rejected the idea of a single
operator last month, and De La Fuente has since revised his proposal to
allow three cannabis clubs. But a working group comprising medical cannabis
advocates, the police department and city officials was unable to reach
consensus on whether the number should be limited at all.

Recommendations from the group range from a limit of five, to seven
downtown and one in each council district, to allowing an unlimited number.

"We wouldn't want some to become Wal-Marts and not let smaller, more
innovative dispensaries move in," argued Robert Raich, an attorney for the
Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

Cooperative director Jeff Jones said his group has issued identification
cards for 2,600 Oakland patients, as well as equal numbers in Santa Clara
and Contra Costa counties. The co-op has about 20,000 members in all.

Hayward also has been struggling with how to regulate cannabis outlets and
recently reached an agreement to grandfather in three dispensaries on
Foothill Boulevard for three years.

Berkeley has four dispensaries, and San Francisco has about 18. Most other
Bay Area cities and many surrounding counties have none operating
aboveground, so patients come from all over to fill prescriptions here.

City officials are debating more than just the number. Unresolved issues
include whether to:

- - Prohibit cannabis clubs within a fixed distance from schools or youth
programs, as Santa Cruz and other cities have done.

- - Require conditional use permits or create a special zone for them to operate.

- - Allow smoking on-site and whether to impose ventilation requirements.

- - Grandfather in the existing establishments.

- - Limit hours.

The situation is further complicated by the dilemma of a youth center, the
Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County, which has watched Oaksterdam
grow up around it and is now demanding the city help the center relocate.

Dozens of speakers packed the Council Chambers for Tuesday's public
hearing, many of them sounding off in general terms about medical marijuana
and giving testimonials to how much it has helped them or family members
manage such diseases as AIDS, severe arthritis and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Leaders of the movement made it clear they favor some sort of regulation
and have no problem with taxation, but fear any kind of record-keeping by
the city will invite federal reprisals. That leaves open the question of
whether the city should be able to audit their records, as is done for
other businesses.

Although medical marijuana was legalized by voters in California, federal
policy still treats the drug as illegal under all circumstances.

Councilmember Jean Quan laid out a plan she described as a compromise, but
the committee was too divided to make any decisions.

Quan said she recently toured several of the cannabis clubs, which
convinced her regulation is needed. While some are operating responsibly,
"some of them, quite frankly, were more like the head shops of my youth
when I visited the Haight Ashbury as a teen."

The full council will discuss legal issues in closed session next week. A
public hearing is also scheduled for the council next week, but it could be
postponed until Nov. 18.