The city manager's office has floated a plan to tax the city's three medical marijuana dispensaries $10 per square foot on space they occupy.

The tax would have to be put to a vote of Berkeley residents for approval, most likely on the November ballot.

Berkeley Patients Group, a nonprofit operating in the city for 10 years, wants to lease the 28,000-square-foot building at the corner of Heinz Avenue and Seventh Street next to the new Berkeley Bowl West supermarket.

Wareham Development recently sent the city a letter threatening to sue, and the City Council will take up the matter during a closed session Tuesday.

Andrew Neilly, a Wareham spokesman, said the company doesn't have a problem with medical marijuana but fears a dispensary in the neighborhood could drive away business.

Some are giving to charity, but you will not see any fanfare or buildings named in their honor. Medicinal marijuana remains a legal gray area, and nothing — even philanthropy — is simple when it comes to the proceeds. Oakland’s medical marijuana headquarters, Oaksterdam University, could not even sponsor a local food bank.

Last December, the city council adopted a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits. The vote was in response to an unexpected dispensary, known as the "Purple Elephant," opening its doors on Webster Street earlier in the year. The proprietors had managed to receive a business permit from the city by simply defining their business as "miscellaneous retail." Since the city council's moratorium is set to expire June 30, 2010, planning board members asked that Andrew Thomas, planning services manager, research and draft a new proposal to replace it.

"Like most other cities, we have dispensaries coming into Richmond," said Councilman Tom Butt, who introduced legislation for a 45-day moratorium. "Basically what we want to do is get control of the situation and figure out what we want to do about it."

Members of the C3 Collective, working from a storefront on Oakland Boulevard to provide medical marijuana to its members, asked Tuesday night that the city ease up on its efforts to close the dispensary, which opened last summer.

The nonprofit is hit with $500 in zoning violation fines every day it's open.

Medical pot dispensaries receive such regulations, but grow houses do not. For years the houses, which are traditionally wired unsafely, have been the bane of police and fire departments.

Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan has been talking with dispensary managers and city staff about guidelines she expects to officially propose in the coming months that she says would ensure the grow-houses are safe and not located in residential areas.

San Francisco police, who patrol San Francisco International Airport, say they allow card-holding medical marijuana patients to carry up to 8 ounces of dried cannabis when traveling. The SFO policy follows the guidelines police use within the city of San Francisco, said Sgt. Wilfred Williams.

Then-San Francisco police Chief Heather Fong enacted the policy in November 2008 through a three-page bulletin to officers. It instructs officers to leave medical marijuana patients and their drugs alone if they are using the marijuana for medical purposes and not for criminal activity.

California is one of 13 states that permit growing and using marijuana for medical purposes. It's been legal here since 1996. Hundreds of licensed clubs like this one in Oakland cultivate and sell packaged marijuana to smoke or to eat, including varieties called Purple Kush, Jack the Ripper, and White Widow.

It means campaigners pushing to have a state-wide vote on legalisation next year are on a collision course with the US government.

The city of Oakland, near San Francisco, this year became the first to collect tax on the sale of so-called 'medical marijuana'.

In this nine-block district of Oakland, California, called Oaksterdam, Lee is a celebrity.

Weedmaps is a founder of The Dispensary Defense Group, headed by Richard Cowan, former Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

The special tax was supported by the city's medical marijuana community, led by Oaksterdam University head and Coffeeshop Blue Sky owner Richard Lee. Lee and other supporters, including city council members, said the dispensaries wanted to do their part to help the city during economic hard times.

So county Supervisors Alice Lai-Bitker, Nate Miley and Gail Steele took what seemed to be a logical step: They appointed members of the community to draw up suggestions for changes.

No deadline was set for the group's work.

Preliminary election results showed the measure passing with 80 percent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Preliminary election results showed the measure passing with 80 percent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Voters also strongly supported an increase in the city's hotel tax; a decrease in the amount of money mandated for youth programs; and an amendment to the city's tax code to ensure transfers through corporate mergers and acquisitions are taxable. Together, the measures could generate about $7 million or $8 million a year for cash-strapped Oakland.

The measure will levy an $18 tax for every $1,000 in gross marijuana sales. Firms in the city now pay a $1.20 business tax on each $1,000 in sales. Other cities may soon follow suit. Voters approved the measure by a margin of 80%, according to preliminary results released by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

State and national advocates of the tax say the victory is a significant turning point in the history of cannabis use, paving the way for taxation in other communities and states and establishing more social acceptance of marijuana use.

But sure enough, supporters of medical marijuana were pleasantly pleased Wednesday after Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved a huge tax increase — 15 times the former rate — on sales at the city’s handful of permitted medical marijuana dispensaries.

Voting closed on Tuesday to pass Measure F, which will impose a special tax on sales of medical marijuana in local dispensaries.

Walk over to the Patient ID Center, and you can buy commercial machines that can trim the leaves off of cannabis quicker than you could do with scissors.

"Just imagine," said Richard Lee, nodding at the familiar scene, "if you had four liquor outlets in all of Oakland. It's ridiculous."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/17/EDC118QU28.DTL#ixzz0Lw76aJT8

The California State Board of Equalization released a legislative analysis last week, estimating that the state would collect up to $1.38 billion in new revenue from taxing and regulating the sale of marijuana.

Richard Lee, the president of the 2-year-old Oaksterdam University, where 3,000 students have gone through courses on everything relating to marijuana from hydroponics to the law, supports Measure F, as does just about the entire Oakland establishment, including police and community groups. Lee knows that an industry that produces revenue for government tends to be looked upon more favorably in the halls of government. "We see this," he said, "as a step toward legitimizing the industry."

Measure F would create a new business tax rate for Oakland's four legally operating medical marijuana clubs, hitting them with a levy of $18 for every $1,000 in gross sales.

That compares to $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales the clubs now pay under the standard retail business tax.

In December a lab in the East Bay started testing samples of cannabis for pathogenic mold and the presence of three cannabinoids –THC, CBD and CBN (cannabinol). THC is the main psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant. CBD is a cannabinoid with intriguing medical potential that gets bred out of cannabis when the breeder's goal is high THC content (as it has been in California for generations). CBN is a breakdown product of THC, an indicator of time in storage.

"80 percent THC?" asks a potential customer. He's referring to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol — the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

But Ken Estes, the operator of several Bay Area marijuana dispensaries, says he continues to be targeted by federal drug agents even though he says he's followed their instructions and California law.

A raid of a marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe two days after Obama too office puts the spotlight on his policy.

Tuesday night, Oakley joined Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood in permanently prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries after more than a year long moratorium on the businesses.

The city council voted unanimously without deliberation or opposition from the public.

"We're always concerned when a community sends a message that access to marijuana is easy," said Reese, chair of the Southeast Oakland Coalition, a drug prevention group serving Ferndale.

Carl M. Swanson heads a group called the National Organization for Positive Medicine, which has no discernable mailing address or phone number.

Berkeley voters have approved a number of tax measures over the years and the city has one of the highest property tax rates in the state, but in 2004 a majority of voters said enough is enough and defeated four tax measures.

The new guidelines “could be a healthy development, if they indicate the attorney general wants the state to take over enforcement efforts and keep the DEA out of it,” said Dale Gieringer, state coordinator for California NORML.

Michael Martin, 34, operated an Oakland-based business originally called Tainted Inc. and later known as Compassion Medicinal Edibles that produced candy, cookies, ice cream, brownies, energy drinks and other treats containing marijuana.

Two dispensaries operate in the unincorporated areas of Hayward near the Castro Valley border and in San Lorenzo. A third, the Compassionate Collective on Mission Blvd., was shut down last year by DEA agents for suspected money-laundering.

My brother has inflammatory arthritis; he's a patient too. My 63-year-old mother, with arthritis and IBS and bone spurs, is one too. We're used to being disparaged as "junkies" and "criminals" by our neighbors, and having to drive to Oakland just to get our medicine because Solano County refuses to acknowledge the will of the people and obey state law. We've adjusted to all that. We know a lot of people just don't understand because they've never been where we are. We've just been waiting for science to bear us out.

Police spokesman Roland Holmgren said the two suspects, a man and a woman, are also suspected of stealing electricity to power their grow lamps, the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported Wednesday.

The supervisors approved the first reading of the amendments to the ordinance by a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Gail Steele opposed. Changes to an ordinance require a second reading — which should occur at the board's next scheduled meeting, July 22 — before it's officially passed, but that is usually considered a formality.

When police returned with a search warrant, they found 160 marijuana plants growing under automatic watering, lighting and ventilation systems in three of the house's six rooms, but no documents backing up Halsema's claim he was a medical marijuana patient.

In addition to the marijuana, police found phony police identification cards, guns and books on how to make bombs. The house, in the 4100 block of Harbor View Avenue, was searched for several hours Thursday.

At Oaksterdam University -- so called after the nickname locals have given to Oakland -- students learn how to grow, harvest and cook marijuana, as well as dispense it to others.

Arthur Palmer, 44, and Kenneth Goss, 41, both of Oakland, broke into 3333 Telegraph Ave. about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Officers responding to a report of a burglary in progress caught them as they were going out the back door, police said.

The reason: While the cannabis retailers have generated big money in portions of state sales taxes that return to the county, many residents and public officials in the county remain uneasy about how the retailers operate.

The big question the employees had was what took the Drug Enforcement Agency so long to conduct the raid.

"Every day I go to lunch and I smell, like, skunk or something, but I knew what it was — because it smells like marijuana," said Patty Garcia, who works at Neldam's Danish Bakery, 3401 Telegraph Ave., across the street from the alleged pot farm.

A DEA spokesperson could not comment on details of the warrant served at 3333 Telegraph, near 35th Street, where a sign out front reads "Digitized Medical Records," except to say it was part of an ongoing narcotics investigation.

They come from all over Oakland. They are of all ages and backgrounds. And, according to a recent opinion from City Attorney John Russo's office, they can only be appointed by one person: Mayor Ron Dellums.

Bates wrote the letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers calling for congressional hearings about letters the agency sent in 2007 that threatened landlords renting to medical marijuana dispensaries.

In 2005, county supervisors, on a unanimous vote of 4-0 (Supervisor Keith Carson absent), approved an ordinance that set guidelines for permitting local medical marijuana dispensaries in Alameda County.

"You were frightened to walk down Mission Boulevard, with 30 to 40 18-year-olds waiting to get in," claimed Kathie Ready of San Lorenzo. "Now you don't see a huge group of gang members in front. Anything that allows that horrible place to open (again) is a crime against this community."

County-approved marijuana sales currently are based in Cherryland, in unincorporated Hayward.

Potential sales areas also include commercial areas of Ashland, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and smaller unincorporated communities in the greater Hayward area.Here are some proposed changes that county supervisors could approve in June:

Richard Lee, owner of a coffee shop and marijuana dispensary in Oakland, says he's proud of the more than $200,000 a year he pays in sales tax. His store sells marijuana buds in one-eighth ounce bags.

Michael Martin, 33, of El Sobrante entered a guilty plea at a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 2 by Judge Claudia Wilken.

Too often dispensaries are a gateway for people with questionable medical ailments to obtain marijuana and then sell it on the streets, supervisors said.

"While I am empathetic to patients with serious and terminal illness, the marijuana dispensaries have attracted both criminal and nuisance problems to the communities where they operate," said Supervisor Mary Piepho of Discovery Bay.

Michael Martin, 33, of El Sobrante was charged Tuesday with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, a felony. Martin is the owner of Tainted Inc., which started as a boutique business that made chocolate truffles and grew into a large marijuana-candy maker that bought chocolate by the ton, authorities said.

So far, 60 students have completed two-day weekend sessions in the art and science of the medicinal herb at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, Calif., the Associated Press reported.

New marijuana dispensaries have have not been allowed to open since the county approved a temporary moratorium in 2006.

But with that moratorium lapsing in April, supervisors are expected Tuesday to pass an ordinance that would ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county.

Simply walking across a room or sitting for a half-hour caused him extreme pain until he discovered the remedy for his health problems -- medical marijuana.

The 38-year-old Oakley resident gets his marijuana from a dispensary and uses a vaporizer to breath in a mist of THC, the active chemical in the sap of a cannabis plant.

The plan by City Councilmen Darryl Moore and Kriss Worthington already has drawn fire from the Berkeley police, the city manager's office and the DEA.

The resolution before the City Council on Tuesday night declares Berkeley a sanctuary for medical marijuana users and distributors, and says "the city itself shall ensure a continuum of access to medical marijuana" if the DEA moves in.

James Carberry, who managed a medical marijuana store known as the "Yellow House" in a bungalow on North La Brea Avenue, and James Lawrence Ealy pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real.

Both men were scheduled to begin trial on Tuesday, Feb. 5, but instead negotiated plea agreements with federal prosecutors.

Larry Roger Kristich pleaded guilty Thursday and he will be sentenced April 21. Besides the prison sentence, he's facing up to $95 million in fines.

The 64-year-old businessman owned the Oakland-based Compassionate Caregivers marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco, San Diego, Ukiah, Oakland, San Leandro, Bakersfield and West Hollywood.

Larry Roger Kristich, 65, who returned from Costa Rica last summer after being indicted, pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to one count of maintaining drug-involved premises and one count of promotional money laundering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Kristich also agreed to forfeit more than $1.2 million cash generated by sales at his stores.

The resolution passed Tuesday night declares Berkeley a sanctuary for medical marijuana users and distributors and commits the city to "uphold patients' rights to safe access to medical marijuana" should the DEA move on one of two dispensaries in town.

In the past year, five medical marijuana dispensaries have been shut down in the Bay Area by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Fearing that Berkeley could be next, city councilman Chris Worthington is putting together a resolution that would make Berkeley a sanctuary for medical marijuana users.

In an effort to overcome the obstacles raised in the raid tactics the DEA employed in earlier attempts to circumvent a compassionate community of medical cannabis connoisseurs, the feds have resorted to sending letters to landlords who rent commercial space to medical cannabis providers, first in Southern California back in July and more recently here in the Bay area. Landlords who own space occupied by medical cannabis dispensaries in Marin, San Francisco, and Alameda counties received letters the second week in December.

At least once such operation in Oakland has been targeted.

Directed by Gregg Araki from a screenplay by Dylan Haggerty, the movie at first seems a psychedelic lark, in the spirit of “The Big Lebowski,” “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” and other works distinguished by picaresque narratives and cumulus clouds of marijuana smoke.

Saying that the letters undermine local authority, and state law, Mayor Ron Dellums is calling on his former colleague, Michigan representative John Conyers, to investigate the Drug Enforcement Administration letters. Dellums has the support of local cannabis activists.

The DEA has sent hundreds of letters to people who own property on which cannabis dispensaries are operating. A DEA official called the notices a "courtesy" even though they threaten landlords with imprisonment and property forfeiture.

Several clinics throughout the state are being evicted by property owners who have been told they could be brought up on federal drug charges and have their buildings seized for aiding in the distribution of an illegal drug.

Dellums, a former congressman, sent a letter yesterday to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee asking for help getting the DEA to back off.

Several clinics throughout the state are being evicted by property owners who have been told they could be brought up on federal drug charges and have their buildings seized for aiding in the distribution of an illegal drug.

In recent weeks, DEA agents have sent letters to their landlords warning them of jail time, stiff fines and even forfeiture of their property if landlords allow tenants to peddle pot.

The letters have "definitely caused a panic," said Nathan Sands, a spokesman for the Compassionate Coalition, a medical marijuana education group.

“We did send out approximately 80 letters to property owners in 15 counties in Northern California where suspected marijuana distribution centers were operating,” said Casey McEnry with the DEA's San Francisco Office.

Sacramento-based agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have sent nearly a dozen letters out in the last month to dispensaries' landlords in the latest effort against medical marijuana.

However, medical marijuana advocates - who saw about 200 DEA letters roll out near Los Angeles this summer - say federal officials are being too heavy-handed against something California voters approved a decade ago.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a permanent injunction issued by a federal trial judge in 2002 against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's Club.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a permanent injunction issued by a federal trial judge in 2002 against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's Club.

Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said the armed robbery happened at 11:47 p.m. Sunday. Matthew Doering and the teen were arrested in a vehicle at King Street and College Avenue at 12:37 a.m. today. Banayat said the residents of the home said the robbers took three pounds of medicinal marijuana.

The ballots are mailed out with the regular newsletter and two people per household may vote. The 5,600 households in the association have two months to return their ballots.

On the ballot, voters will choose between an argument written by Village Homes Association president Wulf Bieschke against the way that medical marijuana dispensaries are run in the area, and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley’s counter argument in favor of the existing system.

Since voters passed Proposition 215, state law permits people with prescriptions to obtain medical marijuana at licensed dispensaries.