Pubdate: Sat, 11 Nov 2006
Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.oaklandtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314
Author: Matt O'Brien, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

HAYWARD POT CLUB ORDERED TO SHUT DOWN

HAYWARD -- One of two medical marijuana dispensaries in Hayward will 
be forced to close down next month, city officials said.

"The place that is being closed down clearly violated their 
conditions," Mayor Mike Sweeney said. "And apparently, they violated it twice."

Officials said the Local Patients Cooperative broke its three-year 
operating memorandum with the city by having more than 3 pounds of 
marijuana on the premises at one time.

Police officers inspected the club in September and said they 
observed 30 pounds of the drug -- 10 times the city's limit. Officers 
returned again last month and claimed to have observed 200 pounds.

The club's owner disputes that amount but acknowledges having at 
least 30 pounds during the October inspection, City Manager Jesus 
Armas said in a report released Friday.

The club, guarded by private security, is downtown on the second 
floor of 22630 Foothill Blvd., across the street from where 
developers are building a 12-screen cinema complex.

Armas said the club must cease all operations by Dec. 31. Managers at 
the Local Patients Cooperative did not return calls for comment.

The order forcing the clinic to close does not affect the only other 
Hayward pot club, Hayward Patients Resource Center, which is a block 
away on Foothill Boulevard.

Tom Limos, owner of Patients Resource Center, said police officers 
inspected his facility a little more than a week ago.

"We're sticking to the letterAdvertisement of the law," said Limos, 
who addedhe has had a "very favorable, very professional" 
relationship with local law enforcement.

But the future of his club, and medical marijuana in downtown Hayward 
in general, remains uncertain.

"The larger question, of course, is whether the council wishes to 
continue in some form the (agreement) that the city put together some 
years back," Sweeney said. "I hope we will hear from folks in the 
downtown in terms of what they think."

A decade ago the passage of Proposition 215 allowed doctor-approved 
medical use of marijuana in California. In 2003, city officials in 
Hayward became increasingly aware of a cluster of pot clubs that were 
quietly operating downtown.

The response was a city ruling allowing a total of two clinics to 
operate, on the condition that the owners follow an 11-point list of 
rules that city officials drew up.

The first of those 11 conditions was that the agreement, which began 
on Jan. 1, 2004, would end Dec. 31 and then be examined again for 
further review.

Armas, in his report this week to the Hayward City Council, stated 
that the city's "substantial investment in the Cinema Place project, 
and the expected increase in pedestrian traffic in the area, serve as 
compelling examples of the reasons for eliminating the use."

Limos said he has applied to renew his agreement with the city and 
hopes to be able to continue operating after the year ends.

He said his business, apart from the security guard outside, is not 
an "obvious" presence downtown.

"Anybody who doesn't know we're there probably won't know we're 
there," Limos said. "The people that need my services will know how 
to find me, and that's the way it should be."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman