Northbay Uprising - Information for the liberated zones of the San Pablo Bay

2011-02-22 "MEDICAL MARIJUANA: Oakland pot farms draw feds' heat; Denver's thrive" by Matthai Kuruvila from "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-02-22/news/28617497_1_medical-marijuana-pot-farm-medical-cannabis-laws]
There's a regulated medical pot farm of 120,000 square feet in downtown Denver, foods laced with marijuana are licensed throughout Colorado, and there are more than 1,200 permitted cannabis growers in that state.
Yet, Oakland, which has yet to license a single pot farmer, is the one attracting the heat from federal law enforcement.
In Mendocino County, licensed medical marijuana farmers have the sheriff's office come to their cannabis plots and zip-tie up to 99 plants to mark their legality.
But in Alameda County, local law enforcement has suggested that Oakland's City Council members might face prosecution if their approved pot farm law is implemented.
In the still nascent era of medical marijuana regulation, the federal government allows the size, profits and distribution of medical marijuana farms to vary greatly. So the law enforcement brushback not only surprised Oakland leaders, but it also made waves among licensed medical marijuana growers around the country. No other jurisdiction's pot farm plans appear to have attracted this level of censure.
A big reason for the difference is that in Colorado, the state Legislature crafted its medical cannabis laws, which regulate for-profit marijuana farming as well as an edible and inhaled pot production and distribution system. The measure was signed by a Republican governor and the state Department of Revenue took in some $9 million in licensing fees.
California's Prop. 215, which legalized medical marijuana, allows only patients, caregivers and collectives to grow and distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes. It's supposed to be a nonprofit venture.
The result in Oakland and much of the state is that marijuana legally sold in dispensaries often comes from ad hoc, illegal plots in basements or vacant buildings. Oakland leaders say this invites robberies, fires through shoddy wiring and neighborhood troubles. Growing, Oakland officials say, should be done in industrial zones.
"If medical marijuana is legal in this state, there has to be some way to legally grow the product," said Oakland Mayor Jean Quan.
Oakland's plan, approved by the council in July, allowed for the creation of four farms - of unlimited size - that could sell to any dispensary they choose. It required no relationship between growers and patients themselves - as required by Prop. 215 - and law enforcement officials warned city officials they could be prosecuted if they licensed such farms.
Also in apparent violation of state law, Oakland's ordinance - since set aside by the council - seemed to allow growers to profit heavily from the sale of cannabis.
Strictly adhering to state law is critical because federal authorities have said that is how they decide whether to crack down, from state to state, on what defines medical marijuana.
"Oakland's law wasn't even close to being legal under state law," said Matt Kumin, a San Francisco attorney who specializes in cannabis law.
Many believe the reasons Oakland's plans have been shot down also have to do with the particular ambitions of Oakland leaders to be pioneers - and the industrial scale on which they've tried to accomplish that.
"Size matters to the federal government," said Kumin. He added that Oakland's plan to have farms with no size limits in a state with almost no regulations on growing "was blatantly poking the bear."
The city has long been a forerunner in medical marijuana, a legacy the council wants to promote. Its four current dispensaries attract patients from around the state and take in $28 million annually in revenue. Harborside Health Center, which is believed to be the largest legal dispensary in the world, has 72,000 registered patients - more patients than many medical marijuana states.
The result is that Oakland's marijuana laws have impact, said Dale Gieringer, California director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "Oakland is in a league of its own."