http://drugsense.org/donate/matching.htm
Pubdate: Fri, 26 Sep 2003
Source: Tri-Valley Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.trivalleyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/742
Author: Laura Counts, Staff Writer
Note: Some pictures from Oaksterdam are here 
http://www.immly.org/19_20_norml03.htm
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Oaksterdam (Oaksterdam)

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. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake