Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 Source: Alameda Times-Star, The (CA) Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers Contact: http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125%257E1524%257E,00.html Website: http://www.timesstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/731 Author: Michelle Maitre, Staff Writer SUPERVISORS OK ORDINANCE REGULATING MEDICAL MARIJUANA Plan Allows For Three Dispensaries In Unincorporated Alameda OAKLAND -- Undeterred by a Supreme Court ruling upholding federal pot laws, Alameda County supervisors on Tuesday approved an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas. Realistically, this is the only method by which the county can limit the number of dispensaries and regulate their activities, said county Counsel Richard Winnie in advising the board to move forward with the ordinance. The high court ruled Monday that medical marijuana patients and providers can be arrested under federal law, but Winnie said the ruling doesnt usurp California law, specifically a 1996 voter initiative that legalizes marijuana for medicinal use. Winnie said its unlikely federal authorities will step in and advised the board to make its own rules. The ordinance allows for three dispensaries -- one each in Castro Valley, a combined Cherryland/Ashland district and unincorporated San Lorenzo. Earlier versions of the ordinance would have allowed for up to five dispensaries in unincorporated areas, but Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker said the smaller number was adequate for the areas population of about 130,000. Supervisor Gail Steele supported three dispensaries for a different reason. We have far too many people abusing medical marijuana, she said. The less we have to monitor, the better it is. Currently, seven dispensaries operate in unincorporated areas. William McDonald, who operates A Natural Source dispensary in Castro Valley, said he wished the board had stuck with five. Five was a good, reasonable number, said McDonald, who said the three remaining clubs would be overwhelmed with patients. The ordinance, approved 4-0 with Supervisor Keith Carson absent, sets guidelines for permitting hours of operation and location of the dispensaries. No dispensary will be allowed to open within 1,000 feet of schools, parks or recreation areas, although the distance can be amended to 850 feet if the dispensarys location can be shown it wont adversely affect the safety of children in the area. Under the ordinance, the county will grant two-year operating permits to clubs pending an application review by the sheriffs department and the health care agency. The boards vote ends more than two years of work and several community meetings on the ordinance, which was spearheaded by Supervisor Nate Miley. The ordinance will be back before the board on June 21 for a routine second reading before it becomes effective 30 days later. Miley also called for the creation of a citizens task force that will oversee implementation of the ordinance as well as investigate the possibility of opening a dispensary at county-run Fairmont Hospital, which officials believe would be the first of its kind in the nation. Supervisor Scott Haggerty, however, said the Supreme Court ruling made it doubtful such an idea could proceed. Supervisors will discuss the task force idea at an upcoming board retreat. Sheriff Charles Plummer said the ordinance sets an example for other counties to follow. Plummer, frustrated at officials slow progress in drafting an enforceable ordinance, had earlier given supervisors a June 17 deadline to draft a plan before he started enforcing federal law and shutting down dispensaries. We can make it (the ordinance) work because we have the hearts and we want to make it work, Plummer said, to the applause of medical marijuana supporters in the audience. The ordinance also earned endorsement from medical marijuana patient Angel McClary Raich of Oakland, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case. We definitely need to put this law into place to (make it) better not just for the medical cannabis community but for the community as a whole, Raich said. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFlorida)