Pubdate: Fri, 21 Mar 2003
Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.oaklandtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314
Author: Michelle Meyers, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MEDICAL POT FACILITIES IN HAYWARD HIGHLIGHT OPPOSING VIEWPOINT

HAYWARD -- Medical marijuana dispensary owners say their facilities help 
fuel the downtown economy by attracting about 70 patients downtown each day.

Downtown business leaders, however, even those who support the use of 
medicinal pot, question whether the dispensaries have the opposite effect.

"Whether they are upstairs, next door or down the street, they may deter 
the very businesses we are trying to attract," said Scott Raty, president 
of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce. "They aren't consistent with the goals 
to create a pedestrian-oriented downtown."

It may be a matter of opinion.

But that hasn't stopped dispensary owners from collecting empirical data to 
help prove their case.

Two of the three downtown dispensaries conducted a survey this month to 
help put faces on its patients for the City Council and other community 
members who hold the facilities' fate in their hands.

City officials told the dispensaries this month that they are in violation 
of Hayward's zoning law, which doesn't allow for the dispensing of 
marijuana, even if it's recommended to patients by a doctor.

Proposition 215, approved by 67 percent of Hayward voters in 1996, makes 
marijuana legal in treating any illnesses for which it provides relief. The 
federal government, however, still considers pot an illegal drug.

Caught in the middle, the City Council Tuesday night will begin considering 
whether to change the city code to allow the dispensaries to stay.

Dispensaries have been operating in Hayward for awhile. But their profile 
was raised after a story last month in ANG Newspapers about a potentially 
growing hub of dispensaries. The city had received an application for a use 
permit to operate a new B Street dispensary, and another coffee 
shop-dispensary was rumored on the way.

Phillip Mol, who owns Helping Hands Patients' Center on B Street, analyzed 
146 surveys taken at his dispensary and Local Patients Cooperative on 
Foothill Boulevard.

He determined that patients shop downtown an average of more than two times 
per week and spend about $20 per visit.

About half of the patients surveyed live in Hayward, San Leandro and Castro 
Valley. The bulk of the rest come from Pleasanton, San Jose, Fremont, 
Newark, San Lorenzo, Tracy, Union City and Livermore.

The average patient is 34 years old and makes$51,000 annually, Mol said.

In response to an optional question about their medical condition, 36 
patients said they had back conditions, and 21 said they have a mental 
illness. Others said they take pot for pain management, cancer, HIV and 
other illnesses.

Once word got out last month about the application for a new B Street 
dispensary, the city received a slew of phone calls and letters, all 
opposing a new facility said city planner. Business owners, many of whom 
hadn't known about the existing dispensaries, also told the Daily Review 
they didn't want to see another one.

But the verdict is still out on whether the existing ones should be allowed 
to remain members of the downtown business community.

Avalon Jewelers owner Rod Vargas, a member of the downtown Business 
Improvement Area board, isn't convinced that the dispensaries bring in 
business, but doesn't see them as a detriment either.

"It's an image issue, with so many in such a small place," he said. "In my 
opinion, they aren't doing any real harm. But I also don't see where we 
need any more."

The council will consider the issue at its next meeting at 8 p.m. Tuesday 
in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 777 B St.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom