POT CLUB PROPOSAL FALTERING

Federal Law Conflicts, Crime Concerns Cited

A push to make Mountain View the home of Santa Clara County's only
medicinal marijuana dispensary is losing steam after a city report
nixed the radical notion of letting pharmacies sell pot.

Some of the proposal's biggest proponents, including Mayor Matt Neely,
concede there probably is not enough support for any type of pot club
in town because of concerns with crime and conflicts with federal law.

City council members tonight plan to discuss Mountain View's
flirtation with pot clubs, but they will hear about problems that San
Francisco, Santa Cruz and Hayward have had regulating them.

The city's report dashed enthusiasm for one unique approach: enlisting
drugstores to dispense pot. Council members had expressed interest in
that idea, noting that doctors prescribe medicinal marijuana for
patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, migraines and other
maladies. But pharmacies selling pot could face criminal prosecution
because marijuana is illegal under federal laws, and the U.S.
government licenses pharmacies, the city's report said.

Also, neither state nor federal laws provide any legal way for
pharmacies to buy pot.

Council members still may consider allowing cannabis dispensaries
similar to about 160 others that operate around the state under
California's Proposition 215, which decriminalized medicinal marijuana
in 1996. San Francisco, Hayward, Oakland and Santa Cruz have cannabis
clubs, but there is none in Santa Clara County.

Neely and others on the council say it is unlikely the city will forge
ahead with a proposal, given the elimination of pharmacies as an
option. Council members are troubled by the fact that selling
medicinal pot still violates federal law, and others say the lone city
with a cannabis club in the county might attract problems from
elsewhere. While patients may get to fill their prescriptions, council
members worry about possible robberies of the clubs, or pot falling
into the hands of children or being resold on the black market.

"I was hoping it would work through the pharmacies," said Councilman
Tom Means, one of four from the seven-member council who voted to
study the possibility of a pot club in town. "I don't think I'd
support anything where we're still subject to the federal law and
however they might decide to enforce it."

Neely said he remained hopeful the city could provide some mechanism
for patients in Santa Clara County who get relief from medicinal pot.

"We've taken the lead in being the only one in the county to do
this," Neely said. "I'm a champion for the concept, and I'm not
alone. But there were a lot of concerns, for example about break-ins.
If we get that dealt with, and we can get past the 'pot bad, pot bad,'
we want to make this something compassionate. We have to govern with
hope, not fear."

Several medicinal marijuana patients rallied before the council in
October, saying they must travel to other counties to buy legally
dispensed pot.

Dale Gieringer, coordinator for the National Organization for Reform
of Marijuana Laws in San Francisco, estimated there are about 150,000
patients statewide with prescriptions for medicinal pot and about
8,000 in Santa Clara County.

Gieringer said it would be impossible to enlist pharmacies to sell
marijuana because of the conflicts with federal laws.

"You have shady people who end up getting involved because the state
has been unable to enact a real solid regulated distribution system,
so you have this lawless area that has created this sort of anarchy,"
he said.

San Francisco has allowed cannabis clubs to sprout over the years
without any regulation, leading to problems ranging from people
smoking pot outside the clubs to neighbors' complaints of illegal
resale of cannabis. Last month the city adopted regulations to control
the clubs.

In Oakland, potential dispensers are screened by the city manager,
who selects up to four operators to dispense pot, Gieringer said.
Santa Cruz has one club and recently passed a resolution to create a
city "office of compassionate use," but only if a court deems it
legal under federal law.