Pubdate: Mon, 07 May 2001
Source: Berkeley Daily Planet (US CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Berkeley Daily Planet
Contact:  http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1238
Author: John Geluardi, Berkeley Daily Planet staff

COUNCIL PONDERS POT CLUB PERMITS

In response to neighborhood and patient concerns, the City Council will 
likely ask the    city manager to develop operational and permitting 
guidelines for medical marijuana    cooperatives.

The recommendation, sponsored by Councilmembers Margaret Breland, Linda 
Maio and    Kriss Worthington, also asks the city manager to delay approval 
of any pending    applications for the cooperatives until the guidelines 
are established and a citywide limit on the number of such establishments 
is determined.

"We want the neighbors to be comfortable with the cooperatives and we want 
patients to    be assured that the city has a process in place for 
permitting cooperatives,"    Worthington said.

Currently there is no category for medical marijuana cooperatives in the 
city's Zoning    Ordinance. According to Maio the four cooperatives that 
are operating now applied as    herb retailers.

The City Council used its authority under state Proposition 215 to approve 
a medical    marijuana ordinance in March that details how much of the 
dried medicine and the    number of plants a patient can possess.

The cooperatives, also known as cannabis clubs, can legally distribute 
medical    marijuana as long as patients have a doctor's prescription. 
Studies have shown    marijuana to be effective in treating symptoms of a 
variety of illnesses including AIDS,    cancer and glaucoma.

Worthington said some of Berkeley's medical marijuana cooperatives have 
operated for    months without having any problems and in some cases the 
neighbors didn't know the    cooperatives were there. He said, however, 
that some neighbors have expressed concern because people tend to associate 
the cooperative with illegal drug dealing.

"This is a very different model," Worthington said. "There's one 
cooperative that's been    in operation for over a year. The police have 
inspected it and there have been no    problems."

Maio said the neighborhood concerns are valid and have to be addressed. "We 
need to    develop guidelines and operating procedures and I'm hopeful the 
cooperatives' owners    and managers will come into the process," she said.

While cannabis clubs in Berkeley and Oakland have had very few operational 
or    neighborhood problems, the Hemp Center in the Richmond District of 
San Francisco was    robbed at gun point twice within two weeks during 
April. In the first robbery on April 12, the gunman got away with $8,000 in 
cash and a estimated $12,000 worth of marijuana.
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