SUPERVISORS OK S.F.'S FIRST RULES ON MEDICAL POT

Compromises Allow Neighbors' Input, Limits on Sales

San Francisco's first-ever medical marijuana regulations, approved
Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, will allow most of the city's 33
dispensaries to stay open while limiting the amount of pot a patient
can buy and giving residents a say in where the clubs can operate.

The new rules, pushed through by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, appeared
stalled at City Hall just a few weeks ago. An earlier version of
Mirkarimi's legislation would have forced the closure of many clubs.
He faced criticism from pot club advocates and fellow Supervisor Chris
Daly that the ordinances would have limited access for about 8,000
medical marijuana patients registered in San Francisco. At the same
time, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his political allies expressed serious
reservations about clubs' selling marijuana near schools.

But after a flurry of amendments, Mirkarimi's critics changed their
tune, and Tuesday supervisors voted unanimously to approve his
legislation on a first reading of the ordinances. Medical marijuana
advocates hailed the vote.

"I think this is historic," said patient Michael Aldrich after the
vote. "San Francisco is the place where the medical marijuana movement
started. It's a landmark piece of legislation. I am very proud."

Advocate Wayne Justmann, who had criticized earlier versions of
Mirkarimi's bill, said, "Nothing is perfect, but I tell you, it's
going to work for San Francisco. I think this is a giant step for San
Francisco."

Supervisors had debated for months a series of proposals to regulate
pot clubs, including at one point a suggestion to cap the number of
dispensaries at eight. City officials were concerned by the increased
proliferation of clubs, with some operating just a few blocks of each
other.

The amendments to the legislation will give the city's Planning
Department the right to hold public hearings on the location of all
clubs, with residents encouraged to voice their opinions. Patients
will be allowed to buy one ounce of marijuana per visit to a club,
instead of a pound as previously proposed.

Clubs will be required to include in any advertising a notice that
patients need an identification card to purchase marijuana. And the
number of marijuana plants that clubs, patients or their caregivers
could grow will be restricted to 24, down from 99.

Any new club will be prohibited from opening within 1,000 feet of a
school, youth center or similar facility. Clubs in business before
April 1 could stay within that boundary provided that marijuana is not
smoked on the premises.

Mirkarimi's legislation will also "grandfather" in about 16 clubs
operating in the South of Market neighborhood as part of a compromise
with Daly. Daly said Tuesday the new laws should keep open 31 of an
estimated 33 clubs in San Francisco.

Speaking to an audience crowded with activists in the board's City
Hall chamber where the distinct odor of marijuana could be smelled,
Mirkarimi said, "We should all be very, very proud -- you should all
be very proud -- in what we were able to achieve today."

Newsom spokesman Peter Ragone said the changes in Mirkarimi's
legislation satisfied concerns the mayor had.

"We look forward to taking action on this and making law as soon as we
can," Ragone said. "We were pleased to work with Supervisor Mirkarimi
to craft legislation that allows neighbors to have a say in where the
(clubs) are located while also protecting people's access to medical
marijuana here in the city."