Green Rush Fever

San Francisco, the city where the medical cannabis movement was born, is now working to develop regulations for its medical cannabis dispensaries that could become a model for other cities throughout the nation.

San Francisco city supervisors voted this week to enact a 45-day moratorium on new medical marijuana clubs that are flooding into the city. The number of San Francisco dispensaries has exploded from 10 three years ago, to an estimated 37 clubs. The San Francisco Department of Public Heath has now issued 8,000 medical marijuana ID cards, up from 2,000 in 2002.

There are approximately 125 medical cannabis dispensaries throughout California. Each is subject to local regulations. Opening a new dispensary in San Francisco now requires only a business license and approval of the landlord for a change-of-use permit. California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215) allows medical marijuana patients and their caregivers to possess and cultivate cannabis if the patient has a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana. But Prop. 215 and a subsequent state senate bill SB420 set up no explicit guidelines for commercial dispensaries, where most San Francisco patients obtain their cannabis.

Federal authorities do not recognize state medical marijuana laws and continue to arrest marijuana cultivators and distributors. This week, agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration seized 500 marijuana plants from a San Francisco warehouse, but it was not clear whether the growers were supplying dispensaries. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule any day on the case of Ashcroft v. Raich, which will determine whether the federal government has the authority to prosecute medical cannabis patients and growers operating under state law.

Some activists fear that if the court rules in favor of the federal government, dispensaries will be targeted for a crackdown by federal authorities. But the immediate pressure to regulate San Francisco's dispensaries is coming from neighborhood groups and Mayor Gavin Newsom, who called for tighter regulations after learning that a dispensary was planning to open on the ground floor of a city-funded welfare hotel.

The effort to regulate San Francisco's dispensaries is being led by City Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who has been meeting with dispensary owners, neighborhood representatives, patients and activists to develop a set of dispensary guidelines. Mirkarimi said the moratorium, which can be extended up to 22 months, will not limit patients' access to medical cannabis and gives the city and its residents breathing room to set some rules. "We don't want to trigger the intervention of the federal or state government," Mirkarimi said.

During a public hearing on the moratorium, Mirkarimi noted that the nearby city of Oakland had moved to limit the number of dispensaries there from nine to four without extensive public input.

"I would like us to undertake a very deliberative process set by a number of hearings where good people can weigh in on the development of new laws," said Mirkarimi. "The 45-day moratorium does not penalize existing clubs."

Some activists feel that the moratorium will hurt competition and reduce services to patients. Steph Sherer, director of Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for medical cannabis patients, says over 28 cities and towns around the state have already passed moratoriums, some of which have prevented any dispensaries from opening in their community.

"It's different in San Francisco where there is access to medical cannabis, but moratoriums in places like Pasadena where there aren't any dispensaries end up being bad for patients," said Sherer. "The city of San Francisco is a leader on this issue and we don't want to see moratoriums all over the state."