Not Coming Soon to San Leandro: Legal Pot Farms, Dispensaries

Medical marijuana patients in San Leandro won't be getting a supply closer to home anytime soon—at least not legally. 

At a work session on Monday evening, City Council directed staff to draft an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation. The action would make permanent the city's current moratorium on pot dispensaries and cultivation, which expires on Sept. 30, 2011. 

Of the six members present (Councilmember Michael Gregory was absent), only Councilmember Jim Prola said he was opposed to prohibiting pot farms and dispensaries. Prola said marijuana was already being grown "all over our city," and that bringing production into the open would be safer than the current "hodgepodge" of grow operations in homes, on vacant plots and in back alleys. 

"If you’re going to allow medical marijuana, then you have to figure out how you can grow that marijuana in the manner that is most safe,” Prola said.

The current situation, he argued, invites burglaries, home invasionsand the installation of unsafe ad hoc electrical systems to provide for plants.

Prola said prohibiting open cultivation was “basically keeping the industry in the black market.” 

The other council members at the meeting voiced unified support for the staff's recommendation to prohibit large-scale grow operations, although Councilmember Pauline Cutter said she'd like to revisit the issue if there are any changes in the legal environment.

Mayor Stephen Cassidy said that while he believed medical marijuana "serves many valuable purposes," the law allowing its use had been abused in other cities. Plus, he said, San Leandro residents with medical marijuana cards can get their supply from nearby communities. 

Neighboring Cities Butt Heads with the Feds over Pot Farms 

While legalizing pot dispensaries in San Leandro has never really been on the table, the city had shown interest in exploring the possibility of permitting commercial pot farms. 

Berkeley and Oakland both planned to license industrial pot farms, but they've had to rethink corresponding legislation because of recent warnings from the state and federal governments. Most notably, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag warned the City of Oakland in February that going ahead with its plan to license five large-scale pot growing operations could have punishable legal consequences.

The Justice Department under President Barack Obama has said it won't prosecute users and distributors of medical marijuana in states where it is legal. But Haag's warning suggests there's a limit to how much the feds will tolerate. 

Oakland and Berkeley officials are in the process of re-crafting their pot farm plans to try and address legal concerns. 

Keep the Smoke Next Door

Until the legal field becomes more clear, city planning consultant Kathleen Livermore suggested San Leandro hold off on entering the fray. 

At the work session, Livermore gave a brief presentation about medical marijuana policies in other Alameda County cities and unincorporated areas. There are currently about 38 marijuana dispensaries in the county, according to Livermore. 

The cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Albany and unincorporated Alameda County allow dispensaries. 

Two dispensaries operate in unincorporated areas near San Leandro: We are Hemp on Lewelling Boulevard and Garden of Eden on Foothill Boulevard in Cherryland. 

Currently, six cities within the county prohibit pot dispensaries and cultivation, Livermore said. These are Alameda, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Livermore and Pleasanton.

Captain Steve Pricco from the  also spoke at the work session, voicing the department's opposition to allowing grow operations or dispensaries in the city. He said pot businesses lead to a "high potential for crime," and raise security concerns for patrons, employees and neighbors. He noted that multiple crimes, including a homicide, had been associated with medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Alameda County in recent years.

Pricco also said the department didn't think the potential tax and business revenue from pot operations would offset the increased public safety and administrative costs.

What didn't make it into the staff presentation was the potential revenue stream from licensing pot operations, although that was the major motivating factor in Oakland and Berkeley's plans to allow commercial pot farms. Livermore, the consultant, did address the issue after Vice Mayor Ursula Reed asked about revenue in neighboring cities. 

According to Livermore's numbers, last year Oakland brought in about $1.4 million in tax revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries. She did not make any calculations about the potential economic impact if San Leandro were to license pot businesses.

Public a No Show

Fewer than a dozen members of the public showed up for the work session, including three journalists. 

Two people spoke in support of keeping medical marijuana dispensaries and grow operations out of the city. One was a senior citizen from Mission Bay; the other was former mayoral candidate Sara Mestas. 

Mestas said allowing pot businesses in the city would set a bad example for young people and attract more crime. 

"We don’t know what it’s going to bring into the city," she said. "I just don’t think it’s something we need to do here."

One person spoke in favor of allowing pot businesses. Scott Hawkins, a former hospice volunteer and fundraising director for Rebecca Kaplan's 2010 Oakland mayoral campaign, said he disagreed that dispensaries created safety concerns. Hawkins, who lives and works in Oakland, said his office was near a dispensary, and he never experienced any problems with the owners or patrons.  

"I would much rather have medical cannabis be dispensed on a regulated basis than have it be sold in the street,” Hawkins said. 

City staff estimated that it would take three to four months to draft the new ordinance, after which it will be voted on by City Council.