MINUTES
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 416
San Francisco, California
1. Call to order and roll call
The meeting was called to order by Task Force Chair David Goldman at 9:33 a.m.
Present:
David Goldman -- Chair
Stephanie Tucker – Vice Chair
Shona Gochenaur
Mary Schroeder
Raymond Gamley
Martin Olive
Kevin Reed
Sarah Shrader
Patrick Goggin
Albert Blais
Erich Pearson
Michelle Aldrich
Maureen Burns
Stewart Rhoads
2. Approval of Minutes of June 17, 2011 meeting
There were no public comments. Minutes were approved.
3. Approval of Agenda for July 11, 2011 meeting
Discussion was held. No public comments were made. The agenda and the following were approved, as announced by Michelle Alrich:
“I would like to dedicate today’s meeting to Thomas B. Chesar, Jr. otherwise known as Lucifer, who started the first medical marijuana patients' group in San Francisco called LAMPS, the League of American Marijuana Patients and Supporters. He passed on June 24th at the age of 50. May he rest in peace.
4. Public Comments
Public comments were made.
5. Task Force approval to the Annual Report, the modified Task Force Duty 1.G and the modified Home Garden Best Practices Recommendations
Martin Olive presented updated “Recommendations for Cultivation Best Practiced in Home Gardens.” Discussion was held. No public comments were made. The guidelines were approved to be included in the annual report to the Board of Supervisors and for Sarah Shrader to work with Carol Lei to post it to the website.
Patrick Goggin presented recommendations in regards to residential medical cannabis cultivation guidelines. Discussion was held. Two modifications were made to the recommendations. No public comments were made. Voted and approved the following recommendations to be made:
After much deliberation and Task Force hearings where testimony was provided by the Departments of Building Inspection, Planning and Public Health, the Task Force recommends the Board of Supervisors support and make available to the general public the Home Garden Safety Guidelines (see Exhibit A) issued by the Task Force rather than adopt a new ordinance regarding cultivation. All departments prioritized public safety as the City’s overriding concern. We share that as our top concern and, therefore, offer the guidelines below.
We reiterate that all cultivation of medical cannabis by a qualified patient or primary caregiver shall be lawful and shall in no way be subject to criminal prosecution when said cultivation is conducted solely for the personal medical purposes of qualified patients and in accordance with the guidelines below. Such lawful cultivation may include cultivation and possession of both female and male plants at all stages of growth, clones, seedlings, seeds and related cultivation equipment and supplies. Medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives, qualified patients and primary caregivers may cultivate and associate individually or collectively.
RESIDENTIAL MEDICAL CANNABIS CULTIVATION GUIDELINES – All residential medical cannabis cultivation shall be maintained by qualified medical cannabis patients or primary caregivers, one of which must dwell in the residence. The plant numbers in each residence shall comply with the limitations found in San Francisco Health Code Section 3302(a), namely 24 plants, or up to 25 square feet of garden canopy, per patient. At no point shall an accessory use of the home exceed 25% of residential square footage pursuant to Planning Code Sections 204.1 and 204.2. All electrical, building, plumbing and ventilation alterations shall comply with San Francisco Building and Planning Codes. To determine whether an alteration requires a permit, the medical cannabis patient or primary caregiver shall refer to San Francisco Building and Planning Codes and/or consult with the Department of Building Inspections that addresses electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and ventilation. City issued permits require landlord notification.
6. Committee and working group reports and draft recommendations for the annual report
a. Legal Committee
Patrick Goggin presented proposed ministerial corrections to the Medical Cannabis Act that was worked on by David Owen. Discussion was held. Public comments were made. Voted and approved the proposed 3 ministerial changes and have Patrick Goggin draft two new suggested changes on rec centers and flowering 99 plants to be reviewed at the next meeting.
Patrick Goggin continued his report out of the Legal Committee. Discussions held by the committee on policy change considerations include:
i. Clarifying ownership language, section 3301f
ii. Updating possession guidelines
iii. Section 3304e applicant disclosures
iv. 24 hour permit issuance process – providing DPH guidance and direction
v. Defining clones section 3308f
vi. Signage section 3308n
vii. Ownership/transfer of permits 3311
Additional discussions by the committee include:
i. Clustering, saturation issues
ii. Out of county delivery service legislation
iii. Compassion collective facility
iv. SB847 AB1300
b. Patient Advocacy Committee
Shona Gochenhaur reported out for the Patient Advocacy Committee. The committee has not reached consensus on out of town delivery services and unanimously recommend mediation be seek. The committee reviewed items turned in and will review any items turned in at its next meeting. It will look at not touching MCD definition, explore compassionate care facility (CCF) proposal exploring self consumptive gardens, and look at IRS tax code 280e in exploration of congressional support.
c. Cultivation Committee
Stewart Rhoads presented for the Cultivation Committee. The committee has held 2 meetings. The first meeting focused on collective cultivation concerns, including non-dispensing collective forum and examining small collective licensing of 9 patients or fewer. At its second meeting, discussion was held on the DPH proposal, with a list of concerns. The committee voted to have some statement which will be forthcoming.
Task force discussion was held.
d. Outreach Committee
Stephanie Tucker reported for the Outreach Committee. It did not meet in July. She proposed to have a joint meeting with Patient Advocacy Committee and would like to reach out to the larger community to participate.
Discussion was held, public comments made, and approved to move potential legislative amendments to the Medical Cannabis Act regarding out of county delivery services moved to the Outreach Committee from Legal Committee for further deliberation and then back to the Legal Committee.
e. Veterans Committee
Maureen Burns presented for the Veterans Committee. The next meeting will be on July 18, 2011. It has had problems recruiting for the committee due to fear of losing veterans’ benefits with possibly being labeled an addict.
Public comments were held. A handout from Brent Saupe was distributed on non-dispensing collective bargaining for self consumption.
A motion was made to move the next Medical Cannabis Task Force meeting from July 15 to the 22nd, 25th, or 29th. Discussion was held, no public comments were made, and approved to move the next meeting to Friday, July 29, 2011, 1:00-4:00.
Announcement was made that the meeting is the last meeting for Mary Schroeder as a task force member.
Recess was taken.
7. Updates and discussion on production of annual report to BOS.
Discussion was held on the writing, editing, and review of the annual report to the Board of Supervisors. Stephanie Tucker will look into and share sample reports. A subcommittee was created consisting of Shona Gochenhaur, Sarah Shrader, Kevin Reed, Martin Olive, Michelle Aldrich, Stephanie Tucker, and Erich Pearson to work on the report. Public comments were heard and the committee was approved. Further discussion was held, no public comments were made, and approved to have Stephanie Tucker chair the subcommittee.
8. Review and approve candidates for committees.
Michelle Aldrich resigned from the Cultivation Committee. Kevin Reed applied for the committee. Public comments were heard and Kevin Reed was approved.
Discussion was held on the candidates for the Outreach Committee. Caren Woodson, Michael Dane, and Penny Graham presented themselves. Note was made that Antonio Gunnells previously presented himself. Public comments were made, votes taken and Caren Woodson was approved as a member of the Outreach Committee.
9. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 12:23 p.m.
Minutes taken by Carol Lei
