COUNCIL REACHES POT-CLUB ACCORD COMPROMISE ALLOWS THREE DISPENSARIES
TO STAY OPEN ON DOWNTOWN'S FOOTHILL BOULEVARD

The City Coun-cil informally agreed Tuesday evening on a compromise that allows
three existing medical marijuana dispensaries to stay open in downtown Hayward
on the east side of Foothill Boulevard.

After hashing over concerns of the 40-some medical marijuana advocates
who crowded the work session room, council members said the issue
isn't about whether they support pot for medicinal uses. They
apparently do -- almost all voiced concern for those in pain and in
need of well-run dispensaries.

"The issue is what do we do about the zoning," said Councilwoman Doris
Rodriquez, touting Hayward's reputation for being a compassionate city.

And it's also about how to tacitly allow the dispensaries to exist
without regulating or formally sanctioning them, and consequently
getting the city involved in an inherent conflict between state and
federal law. Proposition 215 legalized marijuana for medical uses in
California, although it is still con-sidered illegal under federal
law.

The compromise plan, which is still subject to a vote at a future
council meeting, evolved out of an ad hoc committee of city officials,
community members and medical marijuana advocates who met last summer.

The committee was formed last spring after the city learned three
clubs, one old and two new, were operating outside the boundaries of
the city's zoning law. Members of the business community raised
concerns, in particular about one dispensary operating on B Street, a
focal point of downtown redevelopment.

The compromise plan includes developing a local medical marijuana
patient iden-tification card modeled after one passed last spring by
the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that applies to the
unin-corporated areas of the county.

City Manager Jesus Armas recommended the council pass a law
recognizing the county ID cards, despite a bill signed by Gov. Gray
Davis on Sunday creating a statewide ID card registry. Armas said the
bill won't go into effect until next year, and it may take a while to
get the new registry under way, which the county would have to
maintain anyway.

The bill and a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday, allowing doctors to
speak frankly with their patients about the medical use of marijuana,
were hailed by speakers at Tuesday's meeting as positive steps for
patients and caregivers.

The state bill also grants recognition to medical marijuana
cooperatives like the Hayward dispensaries, something speak-ers used
to persuade the council to allow three facilities instead of two.

The compromise plan from the ad hoc committee grandfathers Local
Patients Cooperative and The Hempery for three years. But the deal was
predicated on the assumption that the former Helping Hands Patient
Cooperative was moving from its B Street location to a new site on
unincorporated county land.

Helping Hands instead has closed and reopened under new management in
a Foothill Boulevard dress shop on the east side of the street, owned
by Jane Weirick, an ad hoc committee member and the former president
of the Medical Cannabis Association.

Much of the 45 minutes of public testimony was from leaders in the
medical marijuana field who gave accolades to Weirick for her
professionalism and longtime commitment to patients.

"This is the kind of compassionate provider that you want in Hayward,"
said Hilary McQuie, political director with Americans for Safe Access.

Others, like patient Stacy Fernandez, said there's a need for three
shops because each one offers different atmospheres and strains of
marijuana that relieve different ailments. Fernandez, who compared the
strains to different varieties of tomatoes, said the city would never
limit drugstores to just Longs and Walgreens.

Castro Valley resident Karen Nicholson, whose son uses marijuana
medically for his depression, said she's thankful that he can go
safely to the dispensaries instead of having to get his medicine
through other means.