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The buzz on Prop. 19 Would legalization mean greener pastures for marijuana dispensaries? by Pe t e r S e i d m a n
C
ities and counties across the state are seeing an explosion of medical marijuana activity, and they’re playing catchup to create guidelines, ordinances and tax structures for medical marijuana dispensaries. Now there’s a new wrinkle: A proposition on the November ballot that would legalize small amounts of marijuana for all adults has many wondering what would happen to the medical dispensaries if it passes. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, which decriminalized marijuana use for medical patients. After obtaining a valid recommendation from a doctor, patients can possess and cultivate modest amounts for their personal use. In addition, a designated primary caregiver can obtain and cultivate marijuana for a patient. Prop. 215 passed with 55.6 percent of the vote. In 2003, the Legislature passed SB 420, which clarifies Prop. 215 and sets up the procedures under which patients today obtain, cultivate and use medical marijuana. State law now mandates that the Medical Marijuana Program, under the California Department of Public Health, issue identification cards to qualified medical marijuana patients. In Marin, for example, a patient can receive a recommendation from a doctor, take it to the county health department and receive
the state identification card. By April 2010, all counties but two had set up a procedure to obtain the state cards, according to the California Health Executives Association, which represents city and county health departments and their directors. Patients are allowed to possess six mature or 12 immature plants and up to eight ounces of processed marijuana—unless local guidelines specify increased limits. And it’s that kind of vagueness that has led to California’s Wild West of cannabis. California was the first state to decriminalize marijuana for medical use, and starting the process via the ballot box was bound to create quandaries. Prop. 19 generates even more questions. California’s laws permit patients to form collectives, or clubs, to distribute marijuana grown for the collective. Though not everyone has a green thumb, those with gardening aptitude can grow for the rest of the collective, which is how medical marijuana dispensaries broke into the big time in California. As groups of patients began using the medical marijuana club arrangement, dispensaries began popping up across the state—and the feds took notice. But the threat of federal legal action tamped down runaway expansion of the dispensa- 10 >
›› NEWSGRAMS Supes request PUC halt on SmartMeters Concerns over PG&E’s SmartMeter program were voiced at the county level Tuesday when the Marin Board of Supervisors declared it is against further installation of the meters until a study currently under way determines they are safe and accurate. The board voted 4-0 (with Susan Adams absent) to compose a letter to the state Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey, outlining their request for the commission to place a moratorium on the project.The supervisors stated that because of“the concern and uncertainty expressed by the public regarding SmartMeter operational accuracy and the wireless technology employed by the system, it seems not only fiscally prudent but appropriately protective of the public trust to suspend operation of the SmartMeter system until your independent investigation is complete and remedies implemented.” The county supervisors join an increasing number of groups that have publicly requested further study on the effects of the installation of SmartMeters. Responding to a PacificSun.com article about the wireless meters, Fairfax Town Councilman Larry Bragman says that Fairfax has“long had a wireless-telecommunications ordinance which requires a party...to obtain a use permit from our Planning Commission.” Bragman adds that“PG&E began installation of its SmartMeter project without obtaining the required permit.They have since notified Fairfax that they do not believe that they need to obey our ordinance.” —Elizabeth Cermak Enter sandman... and hikers Metallica vocalist James Hetfield has had his share of reviews over the years, but here’s one he won’t need to worry about—an EIR of a proposed trail to be blazed near the singer’s Terra Linda property. The county environmental coordinator’s finding that the trail would cause“no significant effects”to the open space sidesteps the painstaking environmental-impact-report process, paving the way for work to begin on the trail next year. Lobbying for the trail—dubbed the 680 Trail, after its elevation—began in 2008 after the “Creeping Death”songwriter erected a fence along his property after vandals trashed it. But the fence cut off the link between the popular Luiz Ranch and Loma Alta fire roads—and suddenly the voice behind“Leper Messiah”became just that, at least among avid open space users. The county still needs to acquire state EIRs and permits, but if the road toward those proves smooth, hikers could be ambling past the“Harvester of Sorrow”vocalist’s property by October 2011. —Jason Walsh Osheroffs to sue killer, his mom’s business and city of Novato The parents of Melody Osheroff, the 9-year-old girl killed last year in a Novato crosswalk, have filed a lawsuit against the city and the drunken driver who ran her down with his motorcycle. The lawsuit claims that the intersection, San Carlos Way and San Marin Drive—where Edward Schaefer killed Melody Osheroff and maimed her father when they were finishing their nightly walk—was dangerous.The city failed to calm traffic by reducing the speed to a safer limit and failed to enforce the 35-mile-an-hour limit, the suit says. Kimberly and Aaron Osheroff filed the wrongful-death and personal-injury lawsuit earlier this month in Marin County Superior Court. The suit says that Schaefer, who was sentenced to 24 years to life in state prison last week, was working for his mother’s company, Marin Beauty Company, at the time of the accident. In addition to Schaefer and the city of Novato, the suit seeks damages from Marin Beauty Company and Schaefer’s mother, Sheri Dunne. Dunne owns three beauty-supply stores and salons. Schaefer has worked for the company on and off for the past 20 years.—Ronnie Cohen EXTRA! EXTRA! Post your Marin news at ›› pacificsun.com
8 PACIFIC SUN JULY 23 - JULY 29, 2010