CANNABIS CLUBS, FOES TRY TO STIR UP THE POT

Hearings Aim to Determine Where Dispensaries Will Go

Just in time for the new year, the fragrance of holiday pine needles
has given way to the scent of medical marijuana wafting over
unincorporated communities.

Not really.

But the 2005 effort to determine which cannabis clubs will continue to
operate in unincorporated Alameda County communities, and where they
will be located, goes on in 2006.

- - On Wednesday, the Natural Source dispensary on Foothill Boulevard in
Ashland appealed its Dec. 22 denial for tentative approval of a permit.

Alameda County Sheriff's Capt. Dale Amaral said Thursday that the
first hearing in a two-step appeals process will be scheduled within
30 days.

- - Next week, The Health Center and Alameda County Resource Center --
other Ashland sales outlets that struck out Dec. 1 with an
administrative appeals panel -- will ask county supervisors to approve
their permit applications.

The hearing is scheduled for no earlier than 11 a.m. Tuesday at the
County Administration Building, 1221 Oak St., fifth floor, in Oakland.

Quick Sequence of Events

In the past five years, seven medical marijuana clinics opened in
Ashland and Cherryland. Neighbors of some outlets complained about
loitering and crime, while clients praised the clubs' locations on
heavily traveled thoroughfares. Armed robberies and the murder of a
robbery suspect occurred in or near dispensaries in 2005.

Supervisors decided last year that only three clinics could operate in
unincorporated areas. One clinic closed its doors before the Sheriff's
Department had distributed an application form last summer.

Three clubs submitted applications by the due date.

The Compassionate Collective of Alameda County on Mission Boulevard in
Cherryland received a letter of tentative approval. The Health Center
and Alameda County Resource Center on East 14th Street in Ashland
didn't, with the Sheriff's Department noting theywere too close to
schools and other community facilities.

Three others didn't submit the original applications, citing confusion
or invasion of privacy in the questions asked.

Last fall, supervisors revised the application form, giving the three
other clubs extra time to return their new forms. We Are Hemp on
Lewelling Boulevard in Cherryland and the Garden of Eden on Foothill
Boulevard in Cherryland also received letters of tentative approval
Dec. 22, while A Natural Source didn't.

Location plays a major role in dispensary operations. Supervisors
created three geographical zones, one for each permit. Jack Norton,
The Health Center's operator, is asking for his permit to be issued if
he relocates, perhaps to Castro Valley. Supervisors would have to
decide which business gets the permit if two dispensaries are in the
same zone and both have letters of tentative approval.