OAKLAND DESIGNATES POT CLUB

City Council OKs group to distribute medical marijuana

By Thaai Walker, Chronicle Staff Writer

July 23, 1998
Refusing to back down in the heated battle over medical marijuana, Oakland is pushing ahead with new policies supporting use and distribution of the drug—and one member of the City Council is going so far as to advocate that the city itself take over the job of dispensing cannabis to patients.

Late Tuesday night, the council authorized the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative to distribute medical marijuana.

By an 8-to-1 vote, council members passed an ordinance that gives the city authority to designate associations that can distribute pot for medical reasons.

Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente cast the negative vote, saying that he could not support it in "good conscience."

"I feel strongly that it’s not the right thing to do," De La Fuente said.

"There’s no control of the caregivers, no real certification, no way to track them, no way to (know) if this is a loophole that will allow people to abuse the program."

Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker added that the city might also be subject to criminal prosecution, although she said that would be unlikely.

Councilman Nate Miley said he wants the city to look into whether its legal risks would be decreased by becoming a primary caregiver and setting up its own dispensary program, rather than relying on a private club to do the job.

A spokesman from the U.S. attorney’s office could not be reached for comment.

Council members also say the ordinance helps carry out the will of those who voted for state Proposition 215, which legalized medical pot.

However, federal law, which supersedes state law, says marijuana used for any purpose is illegal.

Also Tuesday night, the council again approved a policy that allows medical marijuana users to store 1 ½ pounds of the drug at home—an amount 24 times higher than that allowed under guidelines set by Attorney General Dan Lungren.

Although the council unanimously passed the 1 ½-pound policy two weeks ago, Mayor Elihu Harris and De La Fuente demanded that the issue be brought back because they did not realize they were voting in favor of it.

The misunderstanding occurred because the pot policy had been folded into a general report that came before the council about a June Public Safety Committee meeting.

"It was buried in the (committee) report, and we just accepted the report," Harris said. "Nobody pulled (the pot policy) for discussion."

After a lengthy debate Tuesday night, the policy was approved by the council again—but Harris and De La Fuente cast "no" votes, saying they were uncomfortable with the 1 ½-pound standard because they felt it could lead to abuse of the drug.

In other matters Tuesday night, the council placed Mayor-elect Jerry Brown’s strong-mayor initiative on the November ballot.