Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2005 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Authors: Jim Herron Zamora, Henry K. Lee, Leslie Fulbright Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich (Raich v. Gonzales) COUNTY DROPS PLAN FOR HOSPITAL POT CLINIC Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the federal government can crack down on the use of medical marijuana, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors scuttled a plan to put a cannabis dispensary in a public hospital. But supervisors voted 4-0 to open three medicinal cannabis dispensaries in unincorporated areas of Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and Ashland/Cherryland. Those would join seven others within the county's jurisdiction. Because some neighbors do not want medical marijuana distributed near homes or schools, the board had considered opening a dispensary in Fairmount Hospital. Doing so, county officials said, would make it easier to regulate the drug and screen patients. But Supervisor Gail Steele said Monday's Supreme Court decision in a California case doomed the idea, which she said may have been impractical anyway. Steele said supervisors feared losing federal health funding if the dispensary were in a county-run hospital. Federal officials have indicated that they plan to continue to enforce federal drug laws in California, but it remains unclear how frequently they will target medicinal users. Steele said she hopes that pot clubs will remain fairly low priority. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake