Pubdate: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 Source: Contra Costa Times (CA) Copyright: 2004 Knight Ridder Contact: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96 Author: Eric Kurhi Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives) BERKELEY'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE GOES UP IN SMOKE Although it came within tenths of a percentage point of winning, a slow creep of support for Berkeley's latest medical marijuana initiative wasn't enough for it to pass. Measure R would have given the city the most lax marijuana laws in the nation by eliminating limits on the number of marijuana plants a patient can grow -- currently capped at 10 -- and authorizing medical marijuana collectives to police themselves through a peer review group process. It also would have given new medical marijuana dispensaries the right to open without first having a public hearing. Immediately following the election, it appeared as though Measure R had won 48.8 percent of the vote. As the provisional votes were slowly counted, the pro-R tally climbed higher. Provisional votes are those cast at a location other than the resident's designated polling place. Final results released Tuesday by the Registrar of Voters show that voters rejected R by a margin of 191 votes - 25,167 to 24,976. Elaine Ginnold, assistant registrar of voters for Alameda County, said such post-election changes happen regularly. "It's not uncommon," she said. "It's just one of those election things."