MEDICAL POT HAS COUNCIL IN DITHERS

The Oakland City Council wants to crack down [sort of] on the
medical marijuana outlets that have cropped up in downtown Oakland.

Some members want to get tough and some aren't sure what they want to
do.

Whatever they do will be locking the barn door after the horse is out
and running.

It makes you wonder how seriously council members looked at this issue
when they approved it after Proposition 215 [legalizing pot for
medical use] was approved by state voters. What were they thinking
when they set up the operation? I won't even try to answer that one.
Let's just say they were out to lunch.

Yes, medical marijuana is legal in California, and even in Oakland. We
can say the same for alcohol. But the feds refuse to recognize
state's rights on this issue.

This is bad because if the issue becomes widely negatively viewed by
the public because of mishandling, the outcome could be a referendum
in California on medical marijuana.

These are serious issues for people who need an effective drug for
pain, and who use medical marijuana. If the weed's use is for
recreational purposes, then it is illegal.

Oakland's own Ed Rosenthal was the target of the federal government's
attempt to kill medical marijuana use in California so there has
been plenty of media coverage of the subject. He was given a
sentence of one day in jail which unfairly makes him a "convicted
felon." You would think the Oakland council with all the problems
it has had with liquorstores would have had the smarts to figure the
same problems would come up with medical marijuana.

But it appears there wasn't one bureaucrat in City Hall who knew the
new businesses opening on Broadway and Telegraph had the mission of
providing medical marijuana.

So now that the council knows to some degree what's going on under
their noses they are threatening to "crack down" on the owners of
the businesses and maybe even throw them out.

The council isn't satisfied that it has enraged a nest of hornets,
they are threatening to close some of the outlets. And what for? So
they can be empty again? As they were for years before.

Now they exist and were apparently quietly benign until some watchful
eyes found them operating. Now the city is floundering in its usual
fashion, blaming staff and wringing its hands.

Their profound solution is to wait a month to take official action
and meanwhile have a closed session on the legal issues. Sounds
pretty typical.

All they need to do is look at the regulations they have for liquor
stores and use them as a model for regulating medical marijuana.
It's basically the same concept. The community and the folks who
rely on pot for health reasons would probably think that was a fair
way.

As for what's already been done, it looks like we'll have to live with
it. It's hard on the eyes visualizing the city evicting sick people
from their source of pain killers.

The youth group that has space in the midst of the pot shops may have
to educate its youthful clients to the dangers of recreational
marijuana and, on the other hand, the benefits it provides to the
sick, some who are in the terminal stages of their diseases.

Young people need to know the complete picture of pot so they can make
a reasoned decision on drug use and what it does to the body -- for
good or bad.

If that doesn't work, they could move to a new location.

The best thing that can come from this fumbled operation would be if
we all learned more about the need for medical marijuana but also
the critical need to control it properly.

It could become such a problem for Oakland and other California cities
that the electorate might be persuaded to repeal the law that allows
medical marijuana's sale. That would be a very sad outcome.

An Oakland think tank, the Independent Institute, will sponsor a forum
on "The Truth about Medical Marijuana"at 8 p.m. Thursday at the
Nikko Hotel, San Francisco. Ed Rosenthal and three additional
panelists will discuss the issue facing Oakland and other cities
because of the conflict between the feds and the state. Call
632-1366 for more information.