Pompo

Ruling sought on legality of new Redwood City medical pot dispensaries
3/21/09|The San Francisco Examiner| by Katie Worth - Examiner Staff Writer



The San Mateo District Attorney’s Office is asking state Attorney General Jerry Brown to make explicit whether medical marijuana dispensaries are legal, a question raised by the recent opening of two cannabis cooperatives in Redwood City.
Brown’s answer could have repercussions beyond the county’s borders, calling into question ordinances adopted by cities around the state that regulate or ban the dispensaries, and it could force dispensaries to shut down.

In 1996, California voters approved an initiative that allows the medical use of marijuana and the cultivation of marijuana by patients and their caregivers. The state law allows for the not-for-profit sale of marijuana, although such sales are still illegal under federal law.


---------------------Photo courtesy of Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner
Legal? Universal Healthcare Cooperative Director of PR and
Vice President Christopher Doty displays some medicinal marijuana.

Last August, Brown issued long-awaited legal guidelines for medical marijuana, but San Mateo District Attorney James Fox said those guidelines left undetermined whether pot dispensaries are legal.

At issue is the precise definition of a cooperative, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

State guidelines say that medical marijuana patients and caregivers may associate “in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes.”

Most dispensaries are storefront operations that sell medical marijuana to patrons, which Wagstaffe said is as similar to a true cooperative “as a Costco is.”

According to the district attorney’s reading of the law, a cooperative would not directly sell the substance to customers — it would involve a group of people who combine resources to grow marijuana, he said.

In 2007, Fox garnered attention for his conservative reading of the law after three pot clubs in San Mateo were raided and shut down. The last remaining dispensary in San Mateo County was closed down by federal and local authorities a year ago.

In recent months, two medical marijuana cooperatives opened in unincorporated Redwood City. One, the Universal Healthcare Cooperative Corporation, was founded by Jhonrico Carrnshimba, who had operated one of the San Mateo dispensaries that was shut down.

Carrnshimba said he agrees with Fox that most dispensaries, as they’re typically operated, are illegal under the guidelines. Carrnshimba said he and his colleagues have gone to great pains to create a true cooperative, including creating an elected board of directors and holding regular member meetings.

The cooperative began distributing marijuana three weeks ago, after its first meeting with representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department, and two members of the board of supervisors.

“All we want is for them to work with us, tell us what it is that we’re not doing right so we can make it right,” Carrnshimba said.
After the meeting, the district attorney said the cooperative is still illegal.

Wagstaffe said his office will send the letter requesting clarification from the attorney general later this month, and hopes the answer ends the dispute once and for all.

Just last week, the San Mateo City Council gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that allows for medical marijuana collectives, but with numerous restrictions.

“We’re not out to take medical marijuana from grandmothers with cancer,” Wagstaffe said. “We just have to enforce the law, and we’re looking for guidance.”