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Medical-pot law ailing?

sfgate.com

San Francisco, CA June 24, 2005 -- EVEN the medical-marijuana diehards have to wonder. Are all of the dozens of cannabis outlets in San Francisco really in business to comfort the sick?

The raids on three storefront operations and indictments of 20 suspects this week came with a surprisingly soft reaction in this city. The mayor ducked a chance to denounce the federal raiders, and several supervisors acknowledged the city's policies are a shambles. It looks as if San Francisco's tolerance and openness is being abused -- and no one likes it. A crackdown, limited to the most flagrant operators, may not be so bad.

Of course, federal prosecutors must make a case that targeted pot dispensaries were fronts for warehouse-scale sales and money laundering. They need to back up their talk about organized crime with convictions.

But since the medical-marijuana cause was approved by state voters in 1996, the chances for abusing this well-intentioned idea have grown. San Francisco police have knocked over a dozen indoor-weed farms in the last two years. This year, the number of pot clubs rose to 44 before reportedly dropping back to 30, an astonishingly high figure and way beyond any other California city.

The latest raids should kick City Hall into gear. If city leaders want any support for the humane use of marijuana, then there must be a tough-minded set of rules for selling and dispensing.

Plenty of good ideas are on the table: a flat, single-digit limit on the number of outlets; background checks on operators; more scrutiny of pot- seeking patients; and zoning restrictions that keep the businesses away from schools.

It's time to get moving on such plans. Otherwise, the city risks losing what little credibility and control it has.