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. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake