Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
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."
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@mercurynews.com
Website: Home - San Jose Mercury News
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
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."
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@mercurynews.com
Website: Home - San Jose Mercury News
Author: Jessica Bernstein-Wax
