California, San Mateo

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San Mateo Pot Shops Raided

The San Mateo County Times
Thu, 30 Aug 2007
by Michael Manekin, Staff Writer

<span class=postbigbold>Three Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Shuttered in Joint Action by DEA and Local Police</span>

SAN MATEO -- In the largest Bay Area raid of medical marijuana dispensaries in nearly a year, federal agents stormed three medical cannabis outlets in downtown San Mateo on Wednesday afternoon and shut them down.

The DEA, accompanied by members of the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force and the San Mateo Police Department, seized 50 pounds of processed marijuana, hashish, cannabis-laced edibles and approximately $30,000 in cash, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice. No arrests were reported.

The raids occurred in the middle of the afternoon, and the three dispensaries were located in busy, commercial districts of the city -- including one site in an office building in the city's commercial center on Third Avenue. "A bunch of guys with drawn guns dropped into the building and bashed the door down, shock-and-awe style," said Josh Snyder, an employee of an Internet startup in the Third Avenue office building.

A DEA spokesperson refused to identify the dispensaries, and the search warrants issued for the raids remain under seal, but the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws lists on its Web site three San Mateo dispensaries: Patients Choice Resource Cooperative, at 164 South Blvd.; Peninsula Patients Local Option, at 397 S. Claremont St.; and MHT, at 60 E. Third Ave.

All three dispensaries were reportedly raided, according to Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group. A fourth dispensary named Holistic Solutions closed voluntarily as a result of the raids, he said.

Federal agents did not say whether the raided dispensaries had violated the state's medical marijuana laws. However, they were all "in violation of federal law," said Cmdr. Mark Wyss of the county's Narcotics Task Force.

The use of medical marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor is legal in California under Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996. In San Mateo County, 66 percent voted in favor of the measure.

However, federal law prohibits the possession of cannabis, and the city of San Mateo does not have local regulations pertaining to the distribution of medical marijuana.

According to NORML, which only lists dispensaries compliant with state and local marijuana laws on its Web site, the raided dispensaries had not violated state law.

Medical marijuana advocates and law enforcement officials said that the raids essentially wiped out the county's medical marijuana dispensaries.

"Of course, that's going to impact access for the patients who live in San Mateo and surrounding areas," said Hermes. "You're talking about the vast majority or all of the facilities in a particular region."

That the DEA would devastate one county's supply of medical marijuana is not "unprecedented," Hermes said. Last year, federal agents raided two dispensaries in Stanislaus County, which essentially cut off patients' access in that region.

"The federal government has been coming in and undermining the state's medical marijuana law," Hermes said. "There is an unrelenting amount of harassment currently going on by the federal government."

Hermes called the DEA's collaboration with San Mateo police and Narcotics Task Force "very distressing."

San Mateo City Councilman Brandt Grotte said that he was not aware that local police were working with federal agents on a nine-month investigation of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries.

"If it turns out that the activities that were being undertaken (at the dispensaries) were in compliance with the state law, then I would prefer that police were not involved locally, aside from being informed the raids were occurring.

"I have a lot of compassion for people who are suffering," said Grotte. "If they're in cancer treatment or something like that, I honestly believe that (marijuana) can have therapeutic value."

Outside the shuttered dispensaries in San Mateo on Wednesday afternoon, that seemed to be the prevailing view among the eyewitnesses to the raids.

Michael Gilbert was standing across the street from the Patients Choice Resource Cooperative when "the DEA just came down like a ton of bricks," he said -- an operation he emphatically disagreed with.

"I don't smoke dope," said Gilbert, "but that's what I think."

"Oh, man, that's not dope -- that's medical marijuana," said Glenn Owens, the owner of a lawn-mower repair shop next to the dispensary. "There are people who actually use it for medical purposes -- and to deny them that is wrong."

Jason Marshalla, a 19-year-old college student from Mountain View, was one of a handful of patients who attempted to stop by the Peninsula Patients Local Option on South Claremont Street late Wednesday afternoon.

Standing outside the shuttered dispensary, he said he smokes medical marijuana to treat his Attention Deficit Disorder -- a treatment which helps him do his homework better, he said. His aunt, he said, takes THC pills (a distillation of the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) to treat her cancer, and a friends' mom uses marijuana to ease her arthritis.

Marshalla traveled all the way from Mountain View to San Mateo, he said, because the city harbors the closest dispensaries to his home in the South Bay.

Now, he said, he would have to travel to Hayward, the next-closest location -- a prospect he called "inconvenient."

"Now, I have to go really far to get it," he said. "It's probably going to be the same now for a lot of people."

The last large-scale raids of Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries by the DEA came in October 2006, when federal agents stormed about a half-dozen locations in San Francisco and Oakland, seizing about 13,000 plants and arresting 15 people.

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FBI Seizes 50 Pounds of Pot, Hash in Raid

The San Francisco Chronicle
Thu, 30 Aug 2007
by John Cote

Federal agents and local police raided three locations in San Mateo that authorities described as "marijuana distribution centers" on Wednesday.

Agents seized 50 pounds of processed marijuana, hashish, marijuana-laced food and about $30,000 in cash, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration statement.

The DEA referred to the operations as "drug trafficking organizations," but it was unclear whether they had ties to medical marijuana clubs.

California approved medical use of marijuana more than a decade go, but it is still illegal under federal law.

Medical marijuana club operators and pot growers, some with dubious ties to state-sanctioned medical marijuana practices, are subject to federal arrests, seizures and prosecution.

Documents relating to the San Mateo investigations are under court seal. A San Mateo police spokesman refused to comment on the case, referring questions to the DEA, which did not return a phone call or respond to an e-mail.

The San Mateo raids were the result of a nine-month investigation that included the DEA and the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force, a multiagency unit.

Property owners where the San Mateo marijuana distribution centers conducted business may have their assets seized and face criminal prosecution if further violations occur, according to the DEA statement.

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City Calls for Pot Shop Regulation

The San Mateo County Times
Sat, 01 Sep 2007
by Michael Manekin, Staff Writer

<span class=postbigbold>Dispensaries Need Consistent Oversight, Local Officials Say</span>

SAN MATEO -- The many battles raging in California over medical marijuana are fueled by a basic disagreement between federal law, which prohibits the possession of cannabis altogether, and state law, which has allowed the selective use of medical marijuana for more than a decade.

But the divide between the two positions -- an ideological chasm which has resulted in the raids of dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state -- has no bearing on the recent raids of three dispensaries in the city of San Mateo, local officials and law enforcement say.

"There's no question in the mind of anybody in law enforcement that these (dispensaries) were operating way outside the bounds of any reasonable interpretation of state law," said San Mateo City Manager Arne Croce on Friday.

The assessment, echoed by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office and local law enforcement, counters the widespread condemnation of the raids by medical marijuana advocates, who defend the rights of medical marijuana patients under state law to open cooperatives. Such cannabis clubs have the right to serve eligible residents who sign up as members of the cooperatives, the advocates contend.

But the three medical marijuana dispensaries raided on Wednesday by the DEA were not maintained as cooperatives "but clearly operating as for-sale pot shops," Croce said, including a fourth dispensary which reportedly closed on the day of the raids.

Dispensary Owner's Story

But Jhonrico Carrnshimba -- the 27-year-old director of Patients Choice Resource Cooperative, one of the three raided dispensaries -- said he took great pains to ensure that his cannabis club was operating above board.

He hired a San Francisco attorney famous for representing medical marijuana patients to ensure that his operation was legally ship-shape; he made overtures to city officials, city police, the Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office, inviting representatives from each group over for a visit; and he went out of his way, he said, to convert his cannabis club into a resource for the sick and suffering, offering patients support groups and educational books and videos about alternative health and fitness.

"I was trying to make a center ... where mature patients could collectively meet and give them support services," said Carrnshimba. "We were following state law to a T."

Patients Choice was established as a true cooperative, said Carrnshimba. The group was able to supply some 800 registered members with cannabis through the help of its own members, who are allowed under state law to grow a limited supply of medical marijuana, he said.

Most of the proceeds were paid back to the members in order to pay for the expense of growing the marijuana plants, and the occasional profits that did surface were used to supply low-income members with free cannabis, said Carrnshimba.

"(The city) knew exactly what was going on," he added, explaining that he informed city administrators of his operation from the moment he applied for a business tax certificate, the business license which the city requires.

However, administrators were kept in the dark regarding Patients Choice, said Croce. The city's finance department, which issued Carrnshimba the certificate, was never informed that Patients Choice was a medical marijuana dispenser, he said.

The certificate, issued July 13, 2006, contradicts Carrnshimba's assertions that Patients Choice communicated openly with the city, and also hints that the dispensary may have operated outside of state law.

The certificate makes no mention of marijuana but states that the group offers "consultation/herbal medicine." Under "ownership type," the document states that Patients Choice is a Limited Liability Corporation, which is a for-profit business under state law. Only corporations registered with the state as a nonprofit can claim protection from prosecution.

The three additional dispensaries in San Mateo also applied for business tax certificates, but they were all denied under the guidance of the City Attorney, said Croce. The pot clubs described themselves on their license applications alternately as "social services;" pain management;" and "retail sales of vitamins and herbs."

Productive Dialogue Needed

Croce said the county and its cities must channel the controversy surrounding the raids into a productive dialogue over the distribution of medical marijuana on the Peninsula.

"This issue really needs countywide attention," he said. "We need to get law enforcement, city attorneys and district attorneys together to try to come up with at least some common guidelines."

Since state voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized the use of medical marijuana in 1996, the county has not set up a mechanism for medical marijuana distribution -- despite a 66 percent approval for the measure by county voters.

Two Peninsula cities have created their own regulations. Last week, Colma's city council unanimously passed an ordinance banning dispensaries from the town, while last year, South San Francisco outlawed storefront pot clubs. However, that measure approved allowing patients to collectively grow cannabis at least 500 feet from residential areas.

"You can see in the way that these two different cities are trying to cope with the issue that some countywide effort needs to go into coming up with some guidelines," said Croce. "There's not any consistency."

That inconsistency troubles San Mateo Mayor Jack Matthews, who worries that San Mateo has become "a kind of island within the county, where it's the only place where you can buy marijuana for palliative care."

"Absolutely, 100 percent, four-square -- I am behind the use of marijuana for medical purposes," said Matthews. "If (dispensaries) are conforming to the law, they have a right to be here ... but if medical marijuana's legal, it should be available in other cities as well."

Taking the Case to the Council

The county's Board of Supervisors may take up the issue of regulation, but first a public discussion of medical marijuana will take place in the city of San Mateo.

When the City Council meets Tuesday, Bay Area medical marijuana advocates plan to converge on City Hall to urge council members to adopt either a resolution pledging to protect medical marijuana patients and providers or a resolution prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with the DEA on actions against medical marijuana. The advocates will be joined by Carrnshimba.

City Councilwoman Carole Groom said Friday that she imagines most residents will have the same concerns about the presence of medical marijuana dispensaries in their community: "That the business is licensed and that the business is legitimate."

If the county or the city can settle on "a regulatory procedure to follow and if those businesses follow it, then I think that people would feel better."

A public debate on medical marijuana in the city and county, she said, must begin sooner than later.

"Let's figure out a way to make (dispensaries) legitimate so people have some relief from the terrible diseases they're fighting," she said. "We ought to be satisfied that loved ones who are suffering have recourse."

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San Mateo raids stir conflict on medical marijuana

<span class=postbigbold>Local officials' opinions on medicinal pot use vary between passive support, outright disdain</span>

by Michael Manekin, Inside Bay Area
August 31st, 2007


REDWOOD CITY — Soon after the Patients Choice Resource Cooperative moved into its new digs in downtown San Mateo, the group received a cease-and-desist letter from the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Patients Choice is a medical marijuana dispensary, one of dozens in the Bay Area providing medicine for patients in possession of doctors' letters prescribing the drug.

But the cooperative was not complying with state and federal law, according to the November 2006 letter, and it was told to close.

On Wednesday, DEA agents and local law enforcement stormed the tiny office and two other medical marijuana dispensaries in the city's downtown and closed them.

The operation, led by the DEA, was the largest Bay Area raid on medical marijuana dispensaries in nearly a year.

Before the raids, the district attorney's office was holding out hope that Patients Choice "would recognize what they were doing as not in compliance with California law, and they would shut down," said San Mateo County District Attorney Jim Fox.

Instead, Patients Choice asked its attorney to send the district attorney's office a letter saying that its business was perfectly in compliance with state law in accordance with Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot measure that state voters approved to allow use of medical marijuana; SB420, a bill passed by the state Legislature in 2004 that allows medical marijuana patients to form their own cooperatives; and People v. Urziceanu, a 2005 appellate court ruling that found that SB420 allows consumer cooperatives, such as Patients Choice, to accept money in exchange for medicine.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe considered the letter, reflected on the state's ambiguous legal definition of medical marijuana dispensaries, and made a decision.

"We could have sat here and spent a great deal of taxpayer money in San Mateo County, prosecuting it and going through the appeals, or we could bring the case to the attention of the federal government," Wagstaffe said.

When Matt Kumin, the San Francisco-based attorney for Patients Choice and a consultant to some 80 medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state, learned that federal agents had raided his clients and two additional dispensaries, his reaction was swift.

"The local DA tries to do a prosecution, but it's too difficult. He's got a bitter taste in his mouth, so he calls the feds.

"To me, it's very cowardly," he added. "San Mateo — God, what a conservative place!"

<span class=postbigbold>'Very supportive' </span>

Actually, until now San Mateo County has not been conservative when it comes to medical marijuana.

One year after 66 percent of voters passed Prop. 215, the Board of Supervisors approved a trial program for the county hospital to treat terminally ill patients with medical marijuana.

When the state began to issue cards for medical marijuana patients in 2004, the county was one of the first to begin registering qualified residents, said John Conley, the county's public health director.

"The Board of Supervisors has been very supportive of medical marijuana in general," Conley said.

Maybe that's why on Thursday Supervisor Jerry Hill questioned the legitimacy of the raids on the three medical marijuana dispensaries, provided that the businesses were "clearly providing the drug for medical reasons."

A DEA spokesperson would not comment on the issue and said the agency only concerns itself with federal drug laws. The county's Narcotics Task Force and the San Mateo Police Department, which assisted in the raid after cooperating with a nine-month investigation of the dispensaries, refused to comment on the issue, explaining that the search warrants and other documents related to the case were sealed.

The raids turned up 50 pounds of processed marijuana, hashish, cannabis-laced edibles and about $30,000 in cash, according to a statement released by the DEA. No arrests were reported, nor were there reports that the dispensaries were doing anything not permitted by the state's marijuana laws.

<span class=postbigbold>No claim of illegal sales?</span>

"The absence of a claim that these dispensaries are operating outside of state law jumps out at me," said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based medical marijuana advocacy group.

San Mateo police Lt. Mike Brunicardi said Thursday that the police department has "an obligation to the residents of San Mateo" to assist federal agents if they report illegal operations within the city.

But Mirkin said that a collaboration with federal agents "who believe that the most ethical and humane medical marijuana provider is no different than a common drug dealer" is bad for the community.

San Mateo Mayor John Lee said of the raids: "I'm just thrilled to death they did it. We don't need that kind of stuff in our city."

Those two attitudes — passive support and outright disdain — have directed public policy regarding medical marijuana in the state.

According to Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group, 26 cities and eight counties in California have ordinances allowing and regulating dispensaries.

There are currently 880 medical marijuana patients who have been issued state identification cards through the county's health department and potentially hundreds more who have obtained an authorized medical marijuana prescription from a physician to treat any number of ailments from attention-deficit disorder to arthritis to terminal illnesses, such as cancer and HIV.

One military veteran living in Redwood City is one of the hundreds — potentially thousands — of county residents who will be affected by the raids.

Mike wishes to remain anonymous because, under state law, his prescription allows him to grow a handful of marijuana plants to treat his chronic rheumatoid arthritis. He's afraid the federal government will take away the medication which makes his life bearable.

He has smoked marijuana for decades. In 1969 his doctor at Kaiser Permanante recommended the drug as a tool to treat his condition. But the medical marijuana laws limit the amount he grows, and he has been forced to supplement his supply from medical marijuana dispensaries. Now he doesn't know what he'll do.

"I don't want to drive all over the Bay Area looking for it," he said. "I would rather not have to go through that. I want to be able to know where I can get this stuff when I need it from a safe place — and as convenient as possible would be nice."

Asked whether the county — which officially supports medical marijuana but whose law enforcement agencies continue to oppose the medication — has supported medical marijuana users, his reply was succinct.

"What has the county done for me?" he said. "In my opinion, the county has done nothing."

<hr class=postrule>
<center><small>MediaNews Sacramento Bureau reporter Harrison Sheppard contributed to this story.
Staff writer Michael Manekin can be reached at (650) 348-4331 or by e-mail at mmanekin@sanmateocountytimes.com.</small></center>

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Pot club asks city for help

The San Mateo Daily Journal
August 31, 2007
By Dana Yates


For more than a year, the Patient’s Choice Resource Cooperative distributed marijuana to 800 members quietly in San Mateo — until federal drug agents closed down the operation Wednesday.

Now the lead director of PCRC is making some noise, urging the San Mateo City Council to enact a policy that supports marijuana dispensaries for sick patients. Meanwhile, city officials say there is no plan to enact any marijuana dispensary policy. Instead, they will follow state and federal laws which make no provisions for such uses.

PCRC, located at 164 South Blvd., was one of three San Mateo dispensaries raided by Drug Enforcement Agents and San Mateo Police Wednesday. The other two dispensaries are located at 397 S. Claremont St. and 60 Third Ave., according to a list online list of San Mateo cannabis clubs. With search warrants in hand, agents discovered 50 pounds of processed marijuana, hash, marijuana-laced edibles and $30,000 in cash.

“I don’t see how they can just come in here ... it’s rude,” PCRC director Johnrico Carrnshimba said of Wednesday’s raids. “I’ve tried to keep an open line of communication with them the whole time.”

PCRC obtained its business license through the city and opened more than a year ago near the corner of El Camino Real and Tilton Avenue. At that time, PCRC invited police to visit the center and was willing to make changes to comply with the law. Changes PCRC made include providing a caregiver on site and increasing the amount of educational resources available for patients. Police also claimed the center was for profit rather than nonprofit, Carrnshimba said.

Carrnshimba insists the center is not for profit, adding that agents only seized approximately $200 and enough marijuana to serve five to six patients.

PCRC opened in June 2006 with a business license from the city and a card to provide marijuana issued by San Mateo Medical Center. Its cooperative membership allows it to see about five or six patients a week. It has a special resource center, holds meetings and provides consultation for patients, Carrnshimba said.

Patients must have a state medical marijuana card issued by San Mateo Medical Center, a doctor’s recommendation and valid state identification, Carrnshimba said.

The main point of contention between the clubs and police is how much they were a cooperative and how much they were a dispensary making money off the sale of marijuana. A cooperative is when patients pool their resources to cultivate and distribute marijuana. That is something the three clubs were not doing, said District Attorney Jim Fox.

“The only thing they are collecting is money,” Fox said.

There is no federal law regulating medical marijuana. State law passed in 1996 regulating medical marijuana is vague. With proper approval, the law allows state residents to grow medical marijuana themselves, allow a primary caregiver to grow it for them or participate in a cooperative. A number of state court of appeals decisions have cleared some of the ambiguity and ruled that the law does not apply to dispensaries, Fox said.

San Mateo County will enforce the state law. However, individual cities are free to form their own laws governing medical marijuana centers. South San Francisco recently passed an ordinance limiting the centers. Colma voted last week to ban them.

The city of San Mateo has no plans to draft any ordinances supporting or prohibiting the centers, City Manager Arne Croce said.

Carrnshimba plans to address the City Council at its Tuesday meeting. He still feels slighted by local officials who allowed him to open the center. He tried to do right by local and state ordinances, maintain a friendly relationship with police and was still shut down, he said.

“It’s sort of sad that they decided to do this and how they did it,” Carrnshimba said. “We’re only helping people here.”

<hr class=postrule>
<center><small>Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. </small></center>

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Officials to shape pot policy

The San Mateo Daily Journal
September 5, 2007
By Dana Yates


Patients affected by the closure and recent raids of three San Mateo medical marijuana dispensaries have officials meeting to form a new countywide pot club policy, San Mateo City Manager Arne Croce told members of the City Council last night.

The announcement came on the heels of three Aug. 29 police raids of medical marijuana dispensaries, located at 164 South Blvd., 397 S. Claremont St. and 60 Third Ave. Croce asked San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill to kick off the effort to form a county-wide policy.

“The County Counsel’s Office will take the lead to form an ordinance that cities and counties can adopt,” Croce told the City Council.

Medical marijuana advocates gathered to protest the raids at last night’s City Council meeting and asked for assistance in easily accessing medical marijuana. Some called on the council to pass a non-conformity ordinance that declares the city will not comply with federal law that prohibits all marijuana use.

Croce said the unclear law confuses San Mateo and other cities in the county and throughout the state. Advocates were disappointed with the city’s response.

“I’m disappointed they don’t recognize collectives,” said Sara, a volunteer with Americans For Safe Access who refused to give her last name.

California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996, allowing for sick patients to either grow their own marijuana or have primary caregiver grow it for them. It does not clearly define a collective, where patients pool their resources to provide their own marijuana. In some situations, patients grow marijuana in shared gardens. The San Mateo clubs only dispensed marijuana.

Law enforcement officials claim the clubs were not acting as collectives. Owners and directors of the clubs argue they are collectives because members are pooling their money for marijuana, providing a safe place to buy it and access to resources about using it.

<span class=postbigbold>Cities are stuck in the middle.</span>

“It’s a very difficult law for cities in San Mateo County to come to grips with,” Croce said.

City Attorney Shawn Mason said passing a non-conformity law declaring that the city would not follow federal law is illegal. Instead, he advocated working with other cities and the county to “bring some clarity to an unclear law.”

“There is a great deal of confusion,” Mason said. “The service the city and county can do is clear up what is legal,” Mason said.

The council ensured residents it was working to solve the problem by urging city staff to clarify the law.

“We listened to you very carefully,” Mayor Jack Matthews told residents last night. “All of us have been very concerned about this issue.”

Hill met with county officials yesterday to kick off the group effort toward a clarifying the law.

“If it’s going to be done, it’s got to be done by the law,” Hill said.

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Medical marijuana advocates protest shutdown of three San Mateo clubs

by Michael Manekin, MediaNews
September 5th, 2007


SAN MATEO - Medical marijuana patients and advocates, upset over the federal raid and closing of three medical cannabis dispensaries in downtown San Mateo last week, are asking city officials for help.

The advocates - among them the operators and patients of the three raided dispensaries - urged city council members to adopt a resolution that would regulate the distribution of medical marijuana in the city and another resolution prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with the DEA on actions against medical marijuana.

The raids, conducted with the assistance of the city's police department and the county's narcotics task force, caused the closure of the county's three primary medical cannabis dispensaries and a fourth one followed suit.

The operations were the result of a nine-month investigation with the Sheriff's Office and federal agents, authorities said. Medical marijuana advocates have sharply criticized the participation of local authorities in the federal investigation.

"We do not want to see our local tax revenues wasted on paying our local law enforcement to aid in federal raids when there has been no violation of state law," said Brent Saupe, a San Mateo resident and a volunteer with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group.

The use of medical marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor is legal in California under Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996. However, federal law does not acknowledge that cannabis can be used for medical purposes.

The district attorney's office was pursuing legal action against one of the dispensaries last year, but ultimately made the decision to bring in federal authorities, according to officials.

The prospect of a lengthy and costly court battle influenced the decision to involve the DEA, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe acknowledged last week. While local law enforcement officers insist that the dispensaries operated outside of the state's medical marijuana laws, operators from each of the three raided dispensaries denied on Tuesday they had violated state law.

The district attorney's decision to involve the DEA was unfair, said Kris Hermes of ASA. That's because the operators - if prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice - will have difficulty defending themselves in federal court, where the legality of medical marijuana is not acknowledged, he said.

At Tuesday's meeting, medical marijuana advocates reminded city officials of the broad support for controlled use of cannabis in the county, pointing out that 66 percent of county voters who voted for Proposition 215, the "Compassionate Use Act" that legalized medical marijuana in the state more than a decade ago.

In all, about a dozen advocates for medical marijuana spoke during the meeting.

But City Manager Arne Croce reaffirmed what he said last week about the dispensaries - "that these businesses were all operating in a way that ... by no stretch of the imagination were operating within the law."

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer said outside the meeting that state law, which allows for medical marijuana patients and providers to open cooperatives, does not permit "storefront, entrepreneurial, drug trafficking enterprises."

Both Croce and Manheimer agreed that the county must develop an ordinance that could better regulate medical marijuana. In fact, Croce said, Supervisor Jerry Hill had met with the district attorney's office on Tuesday to discuss the prospect of countywide regulation.

However, District Attorney James Fox said Tuesday that local regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries is not feasible. The state regulates medical marijuana and any attempts to regulate cannabis must be made on the state level, he explained.

"If people want to change the law, then they have to deal with Sacramento," Fox said. "It's unrealistic to expect the City Council to address (medical marijuana) because they can't change the state law. The board of supervisors can't address the state law."

That opinion was echoed by San Mateo City Attorney Shawn Mason, who urged the advocates at the meeting that "if (they) feel strongly about medical marijuana, they need to talk to their state legislators."

However, one needn't change state law necessary to regulate medical marijuana, said Kris Hermes of ASA.

"You don't need to go to Sacramento,"he said. "There are plenty of examples of cities and counties around the state that have grappled with this issue and resolved it in a very effective way."

Twenty six cities and eight counties across the state have adopted such ordinances, including Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley, according to the ASA. When local government takes regulation into its own hands, medical marijuana patients have access to medicine and communities benefit from decreased street sales of marijuana and less crime in the vicinity of dispensaries, according to a recent study by the group.

"Medical marijuana dispensaries can be a positive part of our community," Brent Saupe, of ASA told city officials. "The Council ought to be supporting efforts to develop regulations that provide safe and legal access to medical cannabis so patients aren't forced to access medicine in illegitimate places - rather than restricting it further."

Staff writer Michael Manekin can be reached at (650) 348-4331 or by e-mail at mmanekin@sanmateocountytimes.com.

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Advocates urge San Mateo to adopt pot resolution

<span class=postbigbold>Supporters want city to regulate distribution of medical marijuana</span>

by Michael Manekin, San Mateo County Times
September 7th, 2007


SAN MATEO — Medical marijuana patients and advocates, upset over the federal raid and shutdown of three medical cannabis dispensaries in downtown San Mateo last week, turned out en masse for a Tuesday night San Mateo City Council meeting.

The advocates — among them the operators and patients of the three raided dispensaries — urged city councilmembers to adopt a resolution that would regulate the distribution of medical marijuana in the city and another resolution prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with the DEA on actions against medical marijuana.

The raids, conducted with the assistance of the city's police department and the county's narcotics task force, caused the closure of the county's three primary medical cannabis dispensaries and a fourth one to follow suit. The operations were the result of a nine-month investigation with the Sheriff's Office and federal agents, authorities said.

Medical marijuana advocates have sharply criticized the participation of local authorities in the federal investigation.

"We do not want to see our local tax revenues wasted on paying our local law enforcement to aid in federal raids when there has been no violation of state law," said Brent Saupe, a San Mateo resident and a volunteer with Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group.

The use of medical marijuana with the recommendation of a doctor is legal in California under Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996. However, federal law does not acknowledge that cannabis can be used for medical purposes.

The district attorney's office was pursuing legal action against one of the dispensaries last year, but ultimately made the decision to bring in federal authorities, officials said. The prospect of a lengthy and costly court battle influenced the decision to involve the DEA, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe acknowledged last week.

While local law enforcement insist that the dispensaries operated outside of the state's medical marijuana laws, operators from each of the three raided dispensaries denied on Tuesday they had violated state law.

The district attorney's decision to involve the DEA was unfair, said Kris Hermes of ASA. That's because the operators — if prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice — will not be able to properly defend themselves in federal court, where the legality of medical marijuana is not acknowledged, he said.

At Tuesday's meeting, medical marijuana advocates reminded city officials of the broad support for controlled use of cannabis in the county, pointing out that 66 percent of county voters helped pass Proposition 215, the "Compassionate Use Act" that legalized medical marijuana in the state more than a decade ago.

In all, about a dozen advocates for medical marijuana spoke during the meeting. When they said their piece, City Manager Arne Croce reaffirmed what he said last week about the dispensaries — "that these businesses were all operating in a way that ... by no stretch of the imagination were operating within the law."

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer said outside the meeting that state law, which allows for medical marijuana patients and providers to open cooperatives, does not permit "storefront, entrepreneurial, drug trafficking enterprises."

Both Croce and Manheimer affirmed that the county must develop an ordinance, which could better regulate medical marijuana. In fact, Croce said, Supervisor Jerry Hill had met with the district attorney's office on Tuesday to discuss the prospect of countywide regulation.

However, District Attorney James Fox said Tuesday that local regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries is not feasible. The state regulates medical marijuana and any attempts to regulate cannabis must be made on the state level, he explained.

That opinion was echoed by San Mateo City Attorney Shawn Mason, who urged the advocates at the meeting that "if (they) feel strongly about medical marijuana, they need to talk to their state legislators."

However, one needn't change state law necessary to regulate medical marijuana, said Kris Hermes of ASA.

"You don't need to go to Sacramento," he said. "There are plenty of examples of cities and counties around the state that have grappled with this issue and resolved it in a very effective way."

Twenty-six cities and eight counties across the state have adopted such ordinances, including Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley, according to the ASA.

"Medical marijuana dispensaries can be a positive part of our community," Brent Saupe, of ASA, told city officials. "The Council ought to be supporting efforts to develop regulations that provide safe and legal access to medical cannabis so patients aren't forced to access medicine in illegitimate places — rather than restricting it further."


Staff writer Michael Manekin can be reached at 650-348-4331 or by e-mail at mmanekin@angnewspapers.com.

[palmspringsbum]

San Mateo approves introduction of ordinance regulating cultivation and storage of medical marijuana

By Jessica Bernstein-Wax

The Palo Alto Daily News
Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: 03/17/2009 12:38:21 AM PDT


The San Mateo City Council on Monday unanimously decided to introduce an ordinance that would regulate the cultivation and storage of medical marijuana in the city.

Following city procedure, the council will vote on the ordinance again at its next meeting. If approved then — and the process is largely a formality — the law will go into effect 30 days later.

Under the ordinance, collectives of patients and their caregivers who grow and store medical pot must register with the city and obtain a license from the police department, with all members providing their names, addresses and phone numbers. Licensed collectives must be located only in the city's manufacturing and commercial zones at least 500 feet from schools, recreation and youth centers.

The ordinance states that collective members must grow marijuana indoors and provide adequate security. San Mateo residents who grow marijuana at home for their own use, or for other people living at the house, are not subject to these rules.

"The enforcement of our regulations become very difficult if we don't have registration to determine who we're dealing with and how much marijuana they need and that kind of thing," City Attorney Shawn Mason said in a phone interview Monday. "What the ordinance is doing is addressing the potential side effects that other communities have experienced with this type of activity so that we don't have problems."

Authorities raided and shut down three pot clubs in San Mateo in 2007 and a fourth in 2008. The city contends that those clubs were illegal because they charged more than the cost of producing the pot — making them for-profit businesses.

At Monday night's meeting Mayor Brandt Grotte criticized that kind of marijuana dispensary for overcharging desperate patients, particularly those on fixed incomes or with severe disabilities.

"I have had a real problem with the idea of dispensaries charging what I think are exorbitant fees," Grotte said.

In 1996, Californians passed an initiative allowing seriously ill people to grow and use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Under the measure, the patients' caregivers could also cultivate and possess the substance.

A 2004 California Senate bill established a voluntary registration program with identification cards for patients and caregivers.

But the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or CSA, says it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, dispense or possess any controlled substance.

The discrepancy between federal and state law has led to wide confusion and legal challenges, California Attorney General Jerry Brown wrote in a series of guidelines on medical marijuana published in August.

"But no legal conflict exists merely because state law and federal law treat marijuana differently," Brown noted.

The 1996 and 2004 measures don't "conflict with the CSA because, in adopting these laws, California did not 'legalize' medical marijuana, but instead exercised the state's reserved powers to not punish certain marijuana offenses," Brown said.

At a study session in October, council members and others expressed concern that if the city adopts a registration system, federal authorities could later compel local police to hand over names of collective members.

But because the California Public Records Act regulates those types of privacy issues, the city couldn't put any language in the ordinance about how police would deal with a records request from federal authorities, Mason said.

"We can't pass an ordinance that says these things are confidential and not public records because the state decides that and not a city," Mason said. "We'll have to address that issue if and when it arises because it really is an issue of state law."

Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes criticized the ordinance for requiring registration, which he said could imperil patients.

"It is a function of self-incrimination to offer up your details pertaining to the cultivation since it's still illegal under federal law and local law enforcement has used information on patients to go to the federal government," Hermes said. "They're setting up, unfortunately, a situation where people will refuse to register and automatically become illegal as a result."

But San Mateo County resident Micheal Resendez, who grows and uses marijuana to treat severe injuries he sustained while serving in the military in 1993, said he would register his collective garden and is already checking out potential buildings in San Mateo.

"I'm legit here in the state of California, being a legal California citizen, being a 100 percent disabled veteran," Resendez said. "I feel that I won't be prosecuted."

Resendez, who said he was overjoyed about the ordinance, added that he prefers to grow pot in a city with clear rules.

"San Mateo is just giving better guidelines," Resendez said. "For me, the legality of that is a lot better for what I do."

<small>E-mail Jessica Bernstein-Wax at jbernstein@dailynewsgroup.com.</small>

[palmspringsbum]

San Mateo council passes medical marijuana ordinance

The San Jose Mercury News | By Jessica Bernstein-Wax
DAILY News STAFF WRITER | Posted: 04/06/2009 11:43:35 PM PDT

The San Mateo City Council on Monday unanimously approved adding an ordinance that regulates the cultivation and storage of medical marijuana to its municipal code.

Following city procedure, the law will go into effect in 30 days after the council voted 4-0 in its favor. Council Member Fred Hansson was absent Monday but voted for the measure with his colleagues at the council's last meeting.

Under the ordinance, collectives of patients and their caregivers who grow and store medical pot must register with the city and obtain a license from the police department, with all members providing their names, addresses and phone numbers. Licensed collectives must be located only in the city's manufacturing and commercial zones at least 500 feet from schools, recreation and youth centers.

The ordinance states that collective members must grow marijuana indoors and provide adequate security. San Mateo residents who grow marijuana at home for their own use, or for other people living at the house, are not subject to these rules.

Last month, Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes criticized the ordinance for requiring registration, which he said could imperil patients.

However, some patients involved in collectives have said they prefer to grow pot in cities with clear rules.

In 1996, Californians passed an initiative allowing seriously ill people to grow and use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. Under the measure, the patients' caregivers could also cultivate and possess the substance.

A 2004 California Senate bill established a voluntary registration program with identification cards for patients and caregivers.

<small>E-mail Jessica Bernstein-Wax at jbernstein@dailynewsgroup.com.</small>