cannabisnews.com: Oakland Council Debates Limit on Pot Clubs 





Oakland Council Debates Limit on Pot Clubs 
Posted by CN Staff on February 04, 2004 at 08:23:26 PT
By Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer 
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
The Oakland City Council was debating a plan late Tuesday night to reduce the number of medical marijuana clubs in the city's "Oaksterdam" district from a dozen to four tightly regulated dispensaries. The council was expected to approve the plan after hearing from dozens of medical pot users opposed to the plan and others who urged approval.
City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who co-sponsored the plan, said the city needs to take responsibility for regulating marijuana use that has impinged on other businesses downtown. His plan would restrict the amount a patient can possess to eight ounces of marijuana and six mature plants. Patients would no longer be allowed to smoke pot in clubs where they buy it. The city was the first in the nation to distribute pot for medical use when it declared the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative to be a city agency in 1998. But the city's legislation at the time left a huge loophole -- the city had no authority to regulate the clubs. "All these changes are in line with being a compassionate city'' that provides medical marijuana to patients in a safe place, said Councilwoman Jean Quan, who co-sponsored the plan. The Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County, which serves gay and lesbian youth, moved out of its Telegraph Avenue office last fall after complaining that people smoked marijuana outside nearby pot clubs. But the Uptown Merchants Association, which includes two cannabis clubs and several unrelated businesses nearby, said the medicinal cannabis groups have helped bring much-needed foot traffic to the area. The council plan, co-sponsored by Quan, requires business licenses allowing only four of the existing clubs to exist legally as nonprofits. The rule would also forbid any club from making excessive profits beyond operating costs and allow the city to review clubs' books. Opponents vowed to put a measure on the November ballot to repeal the council's plan. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/04/BAGL84OI0P1.DTL   Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer Published:  Wednesday, February 4, 2004Copyright: 2004 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 17Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:OCBChttp://www.rxcbc.org/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmPot Clubs Worry City May Impose Regulations http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18291.shtmlCouncil Looks To Trim Number of Pot Clubshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18215.shtmlMedical Marijuana Clubs Spur Regulationshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17872.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on February 04, 2004 at 15:58:24 PT
Drug Policy Alliance Press Release
San Francisco Moves One Step Closer to Supporting Cultivation and Distribution of Medical MarijuanaVoter-Mandated Prop S Report to Board of Supervisors Yields New Options, Including City Funding for Medical Marijuana CollectivesReport Paves the Way for San Francisco to Implement Voters’ Will So That Sick Patients Get Their MedicineFor Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 4, 2004. Today, San Francisco moved one step closer to protecting patients’ access to medical marijuana. The city’s Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA) released a groundbreaking report to the Board of Supervisors giving the green light to establish local cultivation and distribution collectives and cooperatives. The report presents various possibilities for city involvement, including grants for supplies and equipment and renting land at a discounted rate. Today’s report is the result of Proposition S, passed by 62% of San Francisco’s voters in 2002. Prop S stated that “In light of the recent federal Drug Enforcement Agency crackdown on local medical cannabis clubs… [the City should] explore the possibility of establishing a program whereby the City would grow medical cannabis and distribute it to patients attempting to exercise their rights under Proposition 215.”“In passing Prop S, San Francisco voters wanted the city to find the best way to guarantee patients’ access to their medicine,” said Marsha Rosenbaum, Director of the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance. “This report is an encouraging first step. The vast majority of Californians support medical marijuana, and we look forward to working with the City and County to move ahead with these collectives.”Hundreds of patients, caregivers, cannabis club owners and their supporters joined forces with the Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, Americans for Safe Access and California NORML to push for the implementation of Proposition S. Following a year of Prop-S related community meetings and a positive City Services Committee hearing in September, the Office of the Legislative Analyst was directed to study the cooperative model used by the Wo/men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) in Santa Cruz and analyze the feasibility and ramifications of implementing such a model in San Francisco.The OLA report states that with recent federal court rulings as well as the passage of SB 420 last year, which allows for patients’ collectives, there is now “greater legal flexibility for the establishment of non-profit medical marijuana collectives/cooperatives in San Francisco.”In finding the WAMM model for collectives can lawfully be implemented in San Francisco, the report considered the recent decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Raich v. Ashcroft, which held that the federal government does not have jurisdiction within the Ninth Circuit (including San Francisco) to prosecute medical marijuana patients or their caregivers under the Controlled Substance Act in cases in which a person cultivates, dispenses, or possesses marijuana for personal medical purposes as recommended by their physician.In discussing the role of the City in such efforts, the report points out that “City involvement would signal active support and legitimacy for medical marijuana, provide incentives for the formation of collectives/cooperatives in San Francisco, and could reduce the risk and cost of providing medical marijuana to chronic and terminally-ill patients in San Francisco.”The federal government has chosen medical marijuana as the battleground for their war on drugs and it’s important that cities like San Francisco stand up and take the first step in protecting patients.“San Francisco has a long standing commitment to medical marijuana and today marks a significant victory for the community.” Rosenbaum went on to say, “It is now up to the City government to work closely with patients and caregivers to put this plan into practice.”Contact: Tony Newman 212-613-8026 or Elizabeth Berry 212-613 8036 
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/pressroom/pressrelease/pr020404.cfm
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on February 04, 2004 at 15:19:23 PT
They Updated The Link In The Article
They must have used the same url so here it is.Oakland Council Approves Limit on Pot Clubs 
 The Oakland City Council approved a plan early Wednesday to reduce the number of medical marijuana clubs in the city's "Oaksterdam" district from a dozen to four tightly regulated dispensaries. The council's 7-1 vote came after hearing from dozens of medical pot users opposed to the plan while a few others urged approval. Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/04/BAGL84OI0P1.DTL
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 04, 2004 at 11:01:27 PT
kaptinemo
I don't understand why all this is happening. I don't understand how we can be so close to getting Medical Cannabis laws changed and I sense that people don't care about Cannabis issues much anymore. I guess I've been reading too much. Hopefully we can regain a good focus soon. Meanwhile I'll keep busy doing other things until we get some news. I hope that the Granite Staters or MPP or NORML keep asking Kerry what he will do if he becomes president about medical marijuana. This is an opportunity and I hope it doesn't get blown.
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on February 04, 2004 at 10:47:59 PT:
How soon some people forget...
I may catch some Hell for this, but this just p***es me off royally:*The Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County, which serves gay and lesbian youth, moved out of its Telegraph Avenue office last fall after complaining that people smoked marijuana outside nearby pot clubs.*In this case, it seems to me that some of those who for decades made the plaintive cry of "Tolerance, tolerance" for their lifestyles and needs - and have achieved a degree of political strength and therefore, respectability - have none for others still being oppressed.Using the same example, any 'straight' person may make complaint that they object to public-displays-of-affection amongst SMAAC members outside the front of the building. Bigotry is ugly, no matter *who* engages in it.Some lessons never seem to sink in. Abridge the rights and liberties of one group, and you create the precedent of threatening the rights and liberties of all. Freedom ain't no Chinese restaurant, where you can pick or choose; it's more like a Mex establishment.The whole enchilada...or nothing.
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