Pot clinic plan uproar

San Mateo County officials will discuss regulation of medicinal use.

BY CAROLE RAFFERTY
Mercury News Staff Writer

Some rattled San Mateo County officials scrambled Friday to determine how
they might regulate medical marijuana clinics after learning that a San
Francisco man might want to bring one to North Fair Oaks.

Even before a proposal by Salvador Garcia is filed, officials were already
talking about moratoriums and possible arrests. Garcia's is the first such
inquiry that county officials have received for the clinics.

``It surely would help if we got some direction from the state on this
issue,'' said San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin. ``But I would support
a moratorium on this.''

Tuesday, the board will take up the issue of whether to implement a
moratorium. Should it pass, the moratorium would apply only to
unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.

Garcia said he is a member of the Cannabis Coalition and a caregiver to a
seriously ill patient. He said he is astonished and angry at the county's
response.

``This was voted in by the people. And the sheriff is asking for a stay.
It's politics before people's health. It's absurd,'' Garcia said, adding
that he will attend Tuesday's hearing.

No guidelines

Last year, medicinal use of marijuana was legalized by California voters
who passed Proposition 215, allowing people who were seriously ill with
cancer, anorexia, AIDS or other illnesses to use the drug to ease their
symptoms. The proposition, however, did not provide guidelines for how the
sick should acquire the drug, from whom or where.

The county has no zoning regulations on the issue.

District attorneys vary in their opinion on the legality of marijuana clubs
or clinics. San Mateo County District Attorney Jim Fox said he was going to
enforce the law.

``Proposition 215 does not provide a defense for people who are selling
marijuana,'' Fox said. ``It does provide a defense for people in possession
of marijuana who can show medical need.''

San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley that he doesn't have a problem with
seriously ill people using marijuana to relieve their symptoms. But he
added that it is still a state and federal crime to transport marijuana.

``There's already a method for dispensing medications pharmacies,''
Horsley said. ``Why not use the method already approved?''

East Bay clinics

Across the Bay in Alameda County, marijuana cooperatives have sprung up in
Berkeley and Oakland with no interference from law enforcement.

``It's pretty lenient here,'' said John Pylka, codirector of the Cannabis
Buyer's Cooperative of Berkeley, who has 108 patients who come to buy
marijuana.

``It's a safe, convenient way for our patients to get their medication.
They are not criminals,'' Pylka said.

The Oakland Cannabis Buyers CoOp has over 1,000 patients, Pylka added.

In San Mateo County, Nevin, who is president of the board of supervisors,
said he personally supports the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

But he thinks a 45day moratorium will give supervisors time to study the
issue.

Legally, the moratorium can be extended an additional 10 months and 15 days
if no decisions are reached.

The county supervisors' action follows the Palo Alto City Council's banning
the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes last June until they could do
more review.

San Jose, however, allows marijuana clubs to distribute the drug to the
seriously ill as long as the clinics are at least 500 feet from schools,
daycare centers and churches. In May, the San Jose Police Department
released guidelines for the clinics, ranging from extensive recordkeeping
to allowing warrantless inspections.

San Mateo County planning officials said they had no idea how large the
potential clinic would be, the amount of marijuana to be handled or even
how many people would use its services. Furthermore, they had no idea as to
which agency, if any, would be responsible for regulating the sale of the
drug.

The proposed site for the clinic is in the commercially zoned 2800 block of
Middlefield Road in the North Fair Oaks area near Redwood City.

``State law is not explicit and we want an opportunity to research the
issues,'' said planning director Paul Koenig. ``I want to see what's been
done elsewhere. I'm not dealing with whether people think it's a good idea,
a bad idea, or are indifferent. I'm looking at it purely from the
perspective of land use.''