OAKSTERDAM STILL ALLOWED TO FLOWER

City Council Rejects Proposal to Stamp Out Oakland Area Dotted With Medical
Marijuana Clubs

OAKLAND -- Faced with a room packed with worried medical marijuana
advocates and some angry representatives of a youth center, a City Council
committee Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have snuffed out the
budding "Oaksterdam" district.

Instead, the council will meet in closed session with its lawyers next week
to discuss the legal ramifications of regulating pot clubs, reconvene a
working group of city staff and medical cannabis advocates, and bring back
a plan to the Public Safety Committee Oct. 28.

"We need to determine how to regulate and create a safe space for youth
organizations and (cannabis) providers," said Vice Mayor Nancy Nadel
(Downtown-West Oakland), who has been working with the clubs and the youth
center that is surrounded by them.

City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (San Antonio-Fruitvale) had
wanted the city to designate one medical cannabis provider as the city's
official agent, giving it sole authority to distribute pot to ill people in
Oakland.

But advocates convinced the committee that was a bad idea, and would leave
the city even more vulnerable if federal agents decided to shut the single
association down.

"It's like putting a big bullseye on it and saying, 'John Ashcroft, come
here,'" said Rebecca Kaplan, a community activist and former City Council
candidate.

The city had reached an agreement in 1998 with the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative to act as its agent in an attempt to give the club immunity
from prosecution. Oakland policymakers have long supported medical
marijuana and Proposition 215, which made it legal for ill people to use
pot in the state.

But the federal government went after the Coop -- as the cannabis club is
known -- soon after the city deputized it. The club stopped distributing
marijuana and is still embroiled in federal litigation, but in the past few
years, other providers have opened shop.

The clubs have proliferated, mostly along Broadway and Telegraph between
17th and 19th streets, and the area has taken on the nickname "Oaksterdam."
The formerly bleak stretch has developed a bit of a European air, with
colorful coffeeshops with tables on the sidewalks. Those seeking marijuana
can buy it in back rooms or basements, and often smoke on the premises,
according to city staff.

Oaksterdam supporters say the area hasn't looked so good in years, and
shutting it down would put the neighborhood back in the dumps.

The city had ignored the clubs until the Sexual Minority Alliance of
Alameda County (SMAAC) -- a program for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
"questioning" youth -- as well as media reports pointed out there are at
least seven pot clubs in the "uptown" area.

Oakland Hearing Officer Larry Carroll said there may be as many as 10 or 11
distributors now. He said there was a flier on his car Tuesday for another
new club on Webster Street, offering a $10 discount on $100 purchases.

The SMAAC youth center is now sandwiched between two clubs, and director
Roosevelt Mosby told the committee he wants the city to find his
organization a new home immediately.

"You need to lift us up out of Oaksterdam immediately and put us somewhere
else," he said. "We moved downtown because it was safe, but it's not safe
anymore."

Since SMAAC began complaining, the relationship between the youth group and
the pot clubs have grown tense.

And even among the marijuana providers there is some discord, with some
organizations unhappy with the conduct of others.

Jeff Jones, founder of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club -- which has been
held up as a model for responsible medical pot distribution -- said the
discussion has made it clear that some problems are developing in the
neighborhood. But he offered no immediate suggestions, urging the committee
to send the issue to the cannabis working group.

Nadel suggested that the city could adopt a rule similar to one imposed on
liquor stores, prohibiting two within 1,000 feet of each other. She also
suggested some clubs could be grandfathered in, and a moratorium imposed on
new business licenses for clubs until the issue is worked out -- although
some clubs appeared to be operating without licenses, and none had
apparently disclosed their business when applying to the city.

Some of the distributors are nonprofits, while others appear to be
for-profit entities.

"I urge people at this point to even refrain from using the term Oaksterdam
. To me, it's more suggestive of recreational use, and we want to keep
under the radar of the federal government," Nadel said.