California, Newark

[palmspringsbum]

Article Last Updated: 07/26/2006 02:35:55 AM PDT

Newark may stress illegality of medical marijuana clubs

Ban would follow similar moves by Fremont, Union City

The Argus
By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITER



NEWARK — Pot, grass, weed, ganja, medical marijuana — whatever people choose to call it, Newark officials don't want businesses selling it here.

That is why the City Council will be asked Thursday to reinforce the municipal code, keeping medical marijuana outlets from operating in the city.

There have been a number of inquiries into setting up such outlets, and "it's an issue that's out there," Assistant City Manager Jim Reese said. Newark is just "putting an exclamation point" on existing city codes.

The first ordinance that council members will be asked to consider would block the outlets by stating that city codes are consistent with state and federal laws. That means, medical marijuana shops would not be welcome in Newark because federal law makes selling or possessing marijuana illegal. The second ordinance makes the change effective immediately.

Newark would be following a similarmove by Union City, which banned pot clubs in May.

In June, Fremont also made medical marijuana outlets illegal, citing federal law and public safety issues.

If Newark council members approve the move, it will "clearly state, in no uncertain terms, that the city of Newark considers that this use should not be permitted because it violates federal law," said a memo from Reese to the council members.


Staff writer Angela Woodall covers Newark and Ohlone College. She can be reached at (510) 353-7004 or at awoodall@angnewspapers.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Article Last Updated: 08/01/2006 02:33:07 AM PDT

Newark council: No additional pot clubs
By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITER
The Argus


NEWARK — Just say no. That's what the City Council did by approving a move to keep more pot clubs from setting up business in Newark.

"It seems like a prudent course of action," Mayor Dave Smith said at last week's council meeting.

The move will not shut down the Kindcare Resource Center, a medical marijuana outlet at Central Avenue and Cedar Boulevard, although the city is seeking to oust that business through other methods.

Council members voted 4-0 to give city officials the muscle to reject permit applications by such outlets or any other businesses that do not meet federal or state laws. Councilman Luis Freitas was absent.

Pot clubs already are prohibited in Newark, City Manager John Becker said.

"Common sense would tell you a business should be in compliance with federal and state laws. This further clarifies that," Becker said. "We felt it was necessary to be crystal clear" so the city did not in any way break federal law, he added. The ordinances came about when city officials discovered Kindcare was selling medical marijuana (consuming it on the premises is prohibited), though it had stated that it was a vitamin and food supplement store on its business license application.

The city already has moved to shut the center down through a zoning action, Assistant City Manager Jim Reese said. James Anthony, an attorney representing the center, said he was not aware of any such action.

Before council members voted, Anthony asked them to reconsider. Using zoning to regulate outlets is a better way to balance community safety with the rights of medical marijuana patients under state law, he said. California law permits marijuana dispensaries, whereas federal law prohibits them.

Licensing and regulating dispensaries allows cities such as Berkeley and Oakland to control them instead of driving them underground, the land-use attorney said.

Newark chose to follow the example of Union City, which adopted an identical measure in May to prevent medical marijuana outlets from opening in the city. Fremont banned the outlets outright.

The council decision will not change the Newark Police Department's enforcement policy, Chief Ray Samuels said. The department follows the district attorney's lead on whether to prosecute cases involving marijuana, he said.

But the federal Drug Enforcement Agency can prosecute dispensaries and likely would, he added. Just because the state declines to prosecute "doesn't mean the DEA won't do it."

<hr>

Staff writer Angela Woodall covers Newark and Ohlone College. She can be reached at (510) 353-7004 or at awoodall@angnewspapers.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Article Last Updated: 09/16/2006 02:39:26 AM PDT

Newark affirms 'no pot' policy

City Council bans sale of medical marijuana; groups threaten to sue

By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITER

The Argus

NEWARK — Pot was in the air — metaphorically speaking — at the Thursday City Council meeting, where about 24 pro-medical marijuana advocates urged council members to reject a provision that would keep more pot clubs out of Newark.

If the pleadings of about a dozen users didn't make council members think twice about a blandly worded ordinance, the threat of a lawsuit from the group's lawyer did.

"These issues could be raised in court if the council pursues this ordinance," said Robert Raich, an Oakland attorney for Kindcare, the medical marijuana outlet in Newark that prompted the action.

In a rare move, members of the City Council broke for a closed session to discuss their options with City Attorney Gary Galliano, leaving the unusually large crowd — by council meeting standards — in suspense.

About 40 minutes later, five green lights flashed, signaling that council members had approved the ordinance unanimously.

The ordinance does not prevent people from using medical marijuana, said Councilman Al Nagy after he moved to approve it. "It (permits) the city to regulate the businesses it allows here."

It was the second hearing on the ordinance, which is required by law because the city's Municipal Code will be changed. Still, dismay rippled through the crowd.

While pot clubs already are prohibited in Newark, city officials now have the muscle to reject permit applications by businesses that do not meet federal or state laws. State law allows medical marijuana, where-as federal law prohibits it.

The ordinance came about when city officials discovered Kindcare was selling medical marijuana (consuming it on the premises is prohibited), although it had obtained its business license as a vitamin and food supplement store. The city is seeking to shut the store through a zoning action.

Kindcare was burglarized twice in two weeks this summer, according to the Newark Police Department. Kindcare did not return a request for comment but an attorney for the store, James Anthony, said the owners are "very concerned about security."

California voters approved a measure in 1996 allowing the use and sale of cannabis for patients suffering illness, infirmity and chronic pain.

"This is a people's vote," one advocate, Exotica Ecstasy of Newark, told council members. Dressed in a lavender feather scarf, Ecstasy was echoed by others in the crowd.

"If it wasn't for medical marijuana, I'd be dead right now," said Angel McClary Raich, whose medical marijuana rights case was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2003, setting the stage for current federal law. Her husband, Robert Raich, was on the team of lawyers representing her. She has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, seizure disorder and pre-cervical cancer, but reacted violently to the medication she received.

The Oakland resident worried that Tri-City area patients will be forced to drive too far for medical marijuana or resort to unsafe outlets if the Newark dispensary closed. Fremont and Union City prohibit such outlets.

Mayor Dave Smith would not comment on the ordinance because of possible litigation against the city.

[palmspringsbum]

Pot club stands fast in eviction

<span class=postbigbold>Hayward man who owns Newark's Kindcare digs in his heels</span>

By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:11/15/2006 03:08:47 AM PST

NEWARK — As it turns out, just saying no isn't so easy when it comes to medical marijuana.

It's a lesson Newark officials are learning in their attempt to oust a medical marijuana dispensary on Central Avenue, exposing in the process the gap between state and federal law that some cities are struggling to navigate.

Both sides are stuck between federal law, which makes selling or possessing marijuana illegal, and California's law that allows it to be sold for medical uses.

It can be expensive and dangerous territory for the marijuana outlets.

Shane Carter, owner of the Newark outlet Kindcare Resource Center, has racked up thousands of dollars in legal bills and city fines, besides making himself vulnerable to federal busts.

Just because the state declines to prosecute cases involving marijuana "doesn't mean the (Drug Enforcement Administration) won't do it," Police Chief Ray Samuels said earlier this year.

Carter, a Hayward resident, said he is holding out because shutting down regulated medical cannabis outlets deprives seriously ill patients of safe and convenient access.

"I'd rather be here as long as I can to help than pack up," said Carter, who applied for a business permit to sell vitamins and food supplements.

Newark officials said they want legal businesses operating in the city, which Kindcare isnot under federal law.

"We want to make sure we're not contributing to the problem," City Manager John Becker said.

That is why the city has been trying to oust Kindcare since July, claiming that the outlet violates zoning codes.

The City Council also passed an ordinance requiring businesses in Newark to meet state and federal laws, indirectly targeting pot dispensaries.

Meanwhile, the landlord, Central Park Associates, is taking Carter to court to evict him, claiming that operating a cannabis outlet in the area — instead of selling "natural herbs and vitamins," as he claimed on his lease — is a breach of contract, according to court documents.

"They just don't want me there," said Carter, who acknowledged he moved the center to Newark after attempts to open a dispensary in Union City failed when the city banned them in May.

Cannabis outlets have been legal in California since 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215, which allowed doctor-approved medical use of marijuana. A state Senate bill passed in 2003 provided additional guidelines.

But a 2005 Supreme Court case affirmed federal statutes outlawing pot.

In turn, a number of cities have tried a variety of strategies to ban or limit the cannabis clubs.

Fremont took action in June to keep them out, citing federal law and public safety issues. Hayward, where Carter lives, limits the number of dispensaries operating in the city.

The unusual split between state and federal law has cities such as Newark "caught in the middle," Becker said.

Until there is a definitive ruling about which takes precedence, the rift will continue, he added.


<small>Staff writer Angela Woodall covers Newark and Ohlone College. She can be reached at (510) 353-7004 or at awoodall@angnewspapers.com.</small>

[palmspringsbum]

Newark, owner of pot club dig in legal heels

By Angela Woodall, STAFF WRITER
The Alameda Times-Star
Article Last Updated: 11/16/2006 02:47:38 AM PST

NEWARK — As it turns out, just saying no isn't so easy when it comes to medical marijuana.

It's a lesson Newark officials are learning in their attempt to oust a medical marijuana dispensary on Central Avenue, exposing in the process the gap between state and federal law that some cities are struggling to navigate.

Both sides are stuck between federal law, which makes selling or possessing marijuana illegal, and California's law that allows it to be sold for medical uses.

It can be expensive and dangerous territory for the marijuana outlets.

Shane Carter, owner of the Newark outlet Kindcare Resource Center, has racked up thousands of dollars in legal bills and city fines, besides making himself vulnerable to federal busts.

Just because the state declines to prosecute cases involving marijuana "doesn't mean the (Drug Enforcement Administration) won't do it," Police Chief Ray Samuels said earlier this year.

Carter, a Hayward resident, said he is holding out because shutting down regulated medical cannabis outlets deprives seriously ill patients of safe and convenient access.

"I'd rather be here as long as I can to help than pack up," said Carter, who applied for a business permit to sell vitamins and food supplements.

Newark officials said they want legal businesses operating in the city, which Kindcare is not, under federal law.

"We want to make sure we're not contributing to the problem," City Manager John Becker said.

That is why the city has been trying to oust Kindcare since July, claiming that the outlet violates zoning codes.

The City Council also passed an ordinance requiring businesses in Newark to meet state and federal laws, indirectly targeting pot dispensaries.

Meanwhile, the landlord, Central Park Associates, is taking Carter to court to evict him, claiming that operating a cannabis outlet in the area — instead of selling "natural herbs and vitamins," as he claimed on his lease — is a breach of contract, according to court documents.

"They just don't want me there," said Carter, who acknowledged he moved the center to Newark after attempts to open a dispensary in Union City failed when the city banned them in May.

Cannabis outlets have been legal in California since 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215, which allowed doctor-approved medical use of marijuana. A state Senate bill passed in 2003 provided additional guidelines.

But a 2005 Supreme Court case affirmed federal statutes outlawing pot.

In turn, a number of cities have tried a variety of strategies to ban or limit the cannabis clubs.

Fremont took action in June to keep them out, citing federal law and public safety issues. Hayward, where Carter lives, limits the number of dispensaries operating in the city.

The unusual split between state and federal law has cities such as Newark "caught in the middle," Becker said.

Until there is a definitive ruling about which takes precedence, the rift will continue, he added.


Staff writer Angela Woodall covers Newark and Ohlone College. She can be reached at (510) 353-7004 or at awoodall@angnewspapers.com.