cannabisnews.com: City Hearing Examines Options for Regulating MMJ





City Hearing Examines Options for Regulating MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on April 26, 2005 at 06:00:11 PT
By Jo Stanley, Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Examiner
S.F. Calif. -- The question of how to get a handle on The City's many medicinal marijuana clubs brought forth a wide range of comments Monday from government officials, neighbors, patients and advocates at a public hearing Monday.The number of clubs has shot up dramatically to 38 in the past year and a half, plus five delivery operations, and some residents say the clubs are unwelcome in their neighborhoods. But advocates urged city officials not to jeopardize the service.
"Medicinal marijuana is not a slippery slope or a pretext for legalizing marijuana," said former District Attorney Terrence Hallinan. "The two issues should not be confused." Hallinan said he spent years sorting out neighborhood issues, at first informally working with a handful of outlets and then contending with ever-changing legal circumstances after state voters in 1996 approved the drug's use by seriously ill patients even though federal law bans it.Now a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Raich vs. Ashcroft case could be issued any day, potentially allowing federal authorities greater leeway to intervene. Robert Raich, an attorney promoting his wife Angel's right to keep using the marijuana her doctor recommended, urged the supervisors to come up with their own rules instead of fixed limits that cities such as Oakland have enacted.Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who called for the hearing before the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, said he would introduce legislation in the next few weeks that would likely extend the current 45-day moratorium on new clubs to allow for further hearings. Open issues include what sort of fees and inspections are needed as well as how close the facilities can safely be to schools, child-care centers and each other."This is new law," he said after the four-hour hearing adjourned. "It's very exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time."City zoning administrator Lawrence Badiner said only two of the 38 existing clubs have permits, so one decision will be whether to approve the other outlets, which are mostly concentrated in the Haight District and South of Market.Laura Weil, who lives in the SoMa area, said she wants help dealing with nine clubs nearby, including some with parking lots allowing patients to arrive, smoke the marijuana, then drive away. "The voluntary model hasn't worked," she said.Others called for a take-out-only system to eliminate loitering and other neighborhood concerns, or a patient-centered collective approach. Questions of taxation, production and distribution were largely left for another day.The local discussion is unfolding under the watchful eye of the federal government — literally, as it turned out Monday. Mirkarimi said after the hearing he was surprised to learn that a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official had apparently been sitting in, unannounced, during the hearing. "I think that he should have revealed himself to us as a courtesy," the supervisor said.Note: Former DA Hallinan, others urge support.Complete Title: City Hearing Examines Options for Regulating Medical MarijuanaSource: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Author: Jo Stanley, Staff WriterPublished: Monday, April 25, 2005 Copyright: 2005 San Francisco ExaminerContact: letters sfexaminer.comWebsite: http://www.examiner.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmMedical Marijuana Catch-22 for S.F.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20579.shtmlHigh Time To Regulate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20577.shtmlNewsom Offers Plan To Regulate Pot Clubs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20569.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on April 26, 2005 at 12:23:25 PT
Two good links ...
nuff said ...Thanx afterburner
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on April 26, 2005 at 07:18:15 PT
Lawyer Alan Young on talk TV about civil liberties
Alan Young,
Pot-TV, 
 
Running Time: 4 min, 
Date Entered: 24 Apr 2005, 
Viewer Rating: 3.32 (1 vote), 
Number of Views: 53 http://pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3632.html
 "Lawyer Alan Young on talk TV about civil liberties.
Thanks to newshawk Niel" 
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on April 26, 2005 at 07:09:34 PT
Can You Dig It?
High Society - Hippies, Yippies & Diggers:
High Society with David Malmo-Levine, 
 
Running Time: 40 min, 
Date Entered: 14 Apr 2005, 
Viewer Rating: 8.85 (21 votes), 
Number of Views: 2350 
http://pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3635.html {To understand what really went down in the 60's, DML shows clips from the documentary "Les Diggers de San Francisco", "The Great Debate - Yippie Vs. Yuppie" (Abbie Hoffman debating Jerry Rubin in 1986 in Vancouver), George Carlin's "Back in Town" (2003) and David's interview with Noam Chomsky from 1995. Be warned - this show has naked hippies dancing and smoking drugs.} 
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