Pubdate: Sun, 17 Jul 2005
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
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http://extranet.globe.com/LettersEditor/default.asp
Address: P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378
Copyright: 2005 Globe Newspaper Company
Author: Bobby Caina  Calvan, Globe Correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIALS TARGET PROLIFERATION OF  'POT CLUBS'

Unregulated Sites Anger Neighbors; DEA Makes Raids

SAN FRANCISCO -- When California considered becoming one of the first 
states to allow the sale of medicinal marijuana a decade ago, nearly 
three-fourths of  this city's voters embraced the idea. Elected 
officials, including the district  attorney, the city's top law 
enforcer, openly campaigned for passage of the  statewide measure.

But now nearly as ubiquitous as coffee shops in some San Francisco 
neighborhoods, marijuana dispensaries are the subject of increasing 
scrutiny by  city officials who say the proliferation of so-called 
pot clubs has gone  unabated for too long. In April, the city imposed 
a moratorium on new pot  clubs. "We have more medicinal cannabis 
clubs than Burger Kings and McDonald's combined," said Sean Elsbernd, 
a member of the city's Board of Supervisors who has called for a cap 
on the number  of such clubs -- to as few as eight, far less than the 
dozens currently  operating. The board serves as the city's legislative branch.

No one is sure how many pot clubs exist in San Francisco -- because 
the city currently has no regulatory control over them -- but 
estimates range as high as  four dozen, many concentrated in the 
city's Haight-Ashbury district, the birthplace of this city's counterculture.

California is one of a dozen states, including Maine and Vermont, 
with medical marijuana laws that allow those with a doctor's 
prescription to use the drug to alleviate often-painful symptoms from 
a vast array of ailments, including glaucoma, muscle spasms, cancer, 
and AIDS. San Francisco's scrutiny comes amid increasing anxiety over 
the possibility of an impending crackdown by the federal government. 
Last month, the US Supreme  Court decided 6-3 that marijuana users, 
even with a doctor's prescription, can  be prosecuted under federal 
drug laws, although the decision did not strike down  medicinal 
marijuana laws in California and other states. About two weeks after 
the Supreme Court decision, federal agents raided three pot clubs as 
part of an investigation into money laundering and gang activity. 
A  spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration's San 
Francisco office said the clubs were not targeted specifically for 
selling marijuana. As for a potential crackdown on the city's pot 
clubs, "We're not going to discuss whether we will or will not take 
any enforcement action," said Special Agent Casey McEnry, the DEA's 
spokesperson in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the recent court decision 
has prompted the state to rethink its plan to issue state-issued 
identification cards that were intended to help people prove -- 
particularly to police -- that they had legitimate reasons for 
possessing marijuana.

While some city officials doubt that drug agents will seek to shut 
down pot clubs en masse, local regulation of the clubs could 
forestall federal  action. "In an environment where federal 
authorities are clearly watching for any misstep, our best hope . . . 
is to bring accountability and transparency to the operation of 
medicinal cannabis dispensaries in San Francisco," said 
Supervisor  Ross Mirkarimi.

"The failure to enact any kind of regulation has left our 
neighborhoods without a voice in the decisions for far too long," 
Mirkarimi said. In a 60-page proposal introduced late last month, 
Mirkarimi wants to require medical marijuana dispensaries to apply 
for permits from the city's Department  of Public Health and to pay 
annual license fees. Criminal background checks would be conducted by 
the Police Department, and public hearings would take place before 
any permits could be approved.

Pot clubs would be prohibited from residential neighborhoods and 
sites near schools. And to help ensure that owners of pot clubs 
aren't in it purely for the  money, Mirkarimi is proposing that the 
clubs operate as collectives or cooperatives to limit "excessive profits."

Enacting local regulations "would give less reason for the DEA to 
come and raid these clubs," Mirkarimi said.

Many pot club operators declined to be interviewed for this story. 
Soon after passage of Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot measure that 
made medicinal marijuana legal in California, pot clubs began popping 
up across San Francisco, ranging from hole-in-the-wall outfits that 
offer "take-out" marijuana, in its raw form or in baked goods, to 
larger clinics that allow customers to smoke the  drug on the premises.

In some cases, residents were unaware that a pot club was moving into 
their neighborhood until they were already open. Some residents have 
complained about  noise, loitering, littering, and traffic.

"It isn't so much the medicinal marijuana people are complaining 
about," said Elsbernd, "but all the activity -- some of it criminal 
- -- happening all around." Noting that the city of Oakland, across the 
bay from San Francisco, has only four pot clubs, Elsbernd said a cap 
of eight would be appropriate for his city.  "We have twice the 
population as Oakland, so it would make sense to cap the  number at 
eight. The vast majority of the clubs would have to close." Until the 
city can develop acceptable regulations, he and other elected 
officials say the moratorium on new clubs must remain in place. The 
Board of Supervisors probably won't take up the matter until the 
fall. When it does, most agree that the debate could be contentious.

"Clearly, we're not just talking about any other type of business. 
Massage parlors and fortune tellers are the subject of more 
regulation" than pot clubs,  said Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, who 
says his city needs to make it tougher for  pot clubs to open. "It 
shouldn't be a matter of right." But despite the call to rein in 
marijuana dispensaries, elected officials don't support their outright ban.

"There's nothing intrinsically wrong with allowing [pot clubs] to 
supply medicinal cannabis. In fact, just the opposite," Sandoval 
said. "For the ill who need it, we should be making it easier and 
just as convenient for them to get it as it is to get drugs from a  pharmacy."
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