Report from Mountain View city council meeting re: dispensaries

Friends,

Last night the Mountain View City Council discussed drafting a
dispensary ordinance. Currently we have no dispensaries in all of Santa Clara
County. Jonathan Lustig is attempting to open a dispensary, but has been
getting the runaround from Planning Dept about his permit. About 20
southbay patients, caregivers and supporters showed up and spoke to the
council. We had no opponents, which was a pleasant surprise. One of the
councilmembers mentioned that of all the emails he's been getting, only
one was opposed. Phone calls to the city council were running 2-1 in
favor of allowing dispensaries in Mountain View. The Mayor, Matt Neely,
is very supportive of the idea, as is Councilman Greg Perry. Another
supportive councilmember was absent, unfortunately. They deadlocked on the
issue, 3 against, 3 in favor. The members who are opposed kept asking
why pharmacies can't dispense medical cannabis. Several of us tried to
explain why this is logistically and legally impossible, but they
pressed the issue. It seems they didn't believe us. My husband suggested they
contact officials in Santa Cruz, Hayward and SF and ask them how they
are managing dispesaries, and also why their pharmacies aren't. They
agreed that this is a good idea, and are planning to meet with these city
officials. So they took another vote to continue the issue, and hold a
study session in December to revisit the issue. In the meantime, they
will meet with other city leaders and also explore the pharmacy option.
They voted 4-2 in favor of the study session, so that's where the issue
is now. We will continue trying to educate the Mnt View City Council,
and we will be following up with phone calls, emails and visits. The
Vice Mayor is very much opposed. He is the former Police Captain of Mnt.
View. He went on and on about the few robberies in San Leandro and also
compared us to methadone patients, which offended all of us. He will
become Mayor on January 1st, so we're hoping we can win their votes
before then.

We really need dispensaries in Santa Clara County. It is difficult for
many patients to make the trip to Alameda County and SF. Some patients
have been turned away from SF clubs because they don't have SF ID
cards. Same with Santa Cruz, they only accept Santa Cruz ID cards. This is
not right. Some patients are too sick to travel, some can't afford to.
Our county should be taking care of it's own residents.

Anyway, thanks for all of your support. We will keep you posted on our
progress. If anyone is interested in attending the study session in
December, or is interested in contacting the Mnt View city council, please
do. Several of these councilpeople are misinformed and need to be
educated on this issue. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Marnie Regen and Chris Erlinger
San Jose
mars_2112 at juno.com


Council OKs study of marijuana clubs

Jessica Portner
San Jose Mercury News

Mountain View, CA Oct 12, 2005 -- In a spirited, late-night debate, a
divided Mountain View City Council voted Tuesday to move ahead with the
controversial idea of making the city Santa Clara County's first to
allow medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

In a 4-2 vote, the council directed the city staff to study how such
dispensaries operate in Santa Cruz and San Francisco and to consider the
prospect of dispensing cannabis through pharmacies. The council chose
the study option over immediate approval or discarding the idea
entirely.

Mayor Matt Neely said during the meeting that he backs the idea but
that the legal and logistical issues would be challenging.

``The novelty of this concept is profound,'' said Neely. ``Ninety
percent of the time we on the council are discussing zoning processes, sewer
lines, etc. And 10 percent of the time we lead.''

Neely was joined by Councilmen Greg Perry, Tom Means and Michael
Kasperzak in voting for the staff review. Councilman Matt Pear and Vice Mayor
Nick Galiotto opposed the measure. Councilwoman Laura Macias was
absent.

Monitoring such dispensaries is tricky, particularly in a large state
such as California, which has more than 160 clubs statewide. A 1996
state law authorized patients to use medicinal marijuana if they have
certain diseases, including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis or migraines.

But city and county governments statewide have wrestled with how to
regulate a substance that is illegal under federal law, especially since
the Supreme Court ruled in June that users could be federally prosecuted
even in the 10 states with medicinal marijuana laws.

Some Mountain View council members also worried how neighbors might
respond to having a dispensary in their midst, while others questioned how
the clubs might be monitored by police.

During his comments Tuesday, Galiotto spent several minutes chronicling
robberies of medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area. Galiotto
said though it might be more convenient for some local residents to
have closer access to medicinal marijuana, ``This is not an operation that
is appropriate for our community.''

Several council members said they were moved by the nearly two dozen
people that spoke Tuesday in support of pot clubs. A half-dozen medicinal
marijuana advocates, gathered outside Mountain View City Hall on
Tuesday, collected more than 50 signatures on a letter petitioning the city
council to clear pot clubs to operate in the city.

``We have nothing here,'' said Christine Flora, who was lobbying people
passing by on the sidewalk to the cause.

The 40-year-old homeless woman said she commutes by bus, train and
bicycle to get medicinal marijuana in San Francisco, prescribed to treat
depression and migraines. ``I think it's fabulous that this city is
taking a compassionate approach in opening their eyes to this issue.''


Push for pot clubs gains signatures

Jessica Portner
San Jose Mercury News

Mountain View, CA Oct 12, 2005 -- A half-dozen medicinal marijuana
advocates, gathered outside Mountain View City Hall on Tuesday, collected
more than 50 signatures on a letter petitioning the city council to
clear pot clubs to operate in the city.

``We have nothing here,'' said Christine Flora, who was lobbying people
passing by on the sidewalk to the cause.

The 40-year-old homeless woman said she commutes by bus, train and
bicycle to get medicinal marijuana in San Francisco, prescribed to treat
depression and migraines. ``I think it's fabulous that this city is
taking a compassionate approach in opening their eyes to this issue.''

Council members, who had not taken a vote as of late Tuesday night,
debated the controversial idea of making the city the first in Santa Clara
County to allow the pot dispensaries. The seven-member panel was set to
vote on whether to allow pot clubs with certain restrictions, defer
discussion of the issue or discard the idea entirely.

Mayor Matt Neely said he backs the idea but said the legal and
logistical issues would be challenging.

``The novelty of this concept is profound,'' said Neely. ``Ninety
percent of the time we on the council are discussing zoning processes, sewer
lines, etc. And 10 percent of the time we lead. This is historic.''

Monitoring such dispensaries is tricky, particularly in a large state
such as California, which has more than 160 clubs statewide. A 1996
state law authorized patients to use medicinal marijuana if they have
certain diseases, including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis or migraines.
But city and county governments statewide have wrestled with how to
regulate a substance that is illegal under federal law, especially since
the Supreme Court ruled in June that users could be federally prosecuted
even in the 10 states with medicinal marijuana laws.

Some Mountain View council members also worried how neighbors might
respond to having a dispensary in their midst, while others questioned how
the clubs might be monitored by police.

During his comments Tuesday, Vice Mayor Nick Galiotto spent several
minutes chronicling robberies of medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the
Bay Area. Galiotto said though it might be more convenient for some
local residents to have closer access to medicinal marijuana, ``This is not
an operation that is appropriate for our community.''