September 28, 2011

MINUTES
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011, 9:00 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, Martin Olive, at 9:00 a.m.
Present:
Martin Olive -- Chair
Raymond Gamley – Vice Chair
Kevin Reed
Sarah Shrader
Patrick Goggin Albert Blais
Erich Pearson
Michelle Aldrich
Maureen Burns
Stewart Rhoads
Stephanie Tucker
David Goldman
Shona Gochenaur

2. Approval of Minutes of August 19, 2011 meeting
Corrections were made to the draft minutes of August 19, 2011. No public comments were made. Corrected minutes were approved.

3. Approval of Agenda for September 28th, 2011 meeting
Discussion and announcements made. No public comments were made. Agenda was approved.

4. Discussion and Final Approval of MCTF Annual Report
Draft annual report was presented and discussed. Typographical errors were pointed out for correction. Sections 1-11 moved to be approved. Public comments were heard. Sections 1-11 were approved with suggested spelling errors to be corrected.

Discussion held to include further sections. Public comments were heard. Voted and approved to have
• “Patient Concerns” in section 12
• “Cannabis Testing” in section 13
• The statement "A non-dispensing medical cannabis collective may provide California dispensaries with medicine." into section 10 and section 6 summary of recommendations.

Discussion began regarding section 14, “Current Discussions.”

5. Recess taken.

Personal announcements were made by task members,
• Kevin Reed submitted his resignation, effective September 30, 2011
• Patrick Goggin will resign at the completion of the annual report.
• David Goldman will resign at the completion of the annual report.

Discussion continued on the annual report, section 14, “Current Discussions” to include Self Consumption Gardens. Public comments were heard. Voted and approved to include Self Consumptive Gardens.

Discussion held on including Delivery Services in the annual report, section 14, “Current Discussions.” Public comments were heard. Voted and not approved.

Discussion held on “Registration for Collectives of 9 Patients or Less” in section 14, “Current Discussions.” Public comments were heard. Voted and approved to have it included in the annual report, section 14 with the following changes:
• Remove the sentence regarding the registration fee of $150.
• Add “voluntary” before “Registration for collectives…”

Public member, Michael Aldrich, submitted verbiage on Clustering for the annual report. Discussion held on adding Clustering in the annual report, section 14, “Current Discussions.” Public comments were heard. Voted and approved to include the following in the annual report:
The Planning Commission has asked the Board of Supervisors to take up the issue of Medical Cannabis Dispensary “clustering,” i.e., multiple MCDs in limited areas of the City, with few or no MCDs in many neighborhoods. Clustering is caused directly by the planning and zoning requirements of the MCA, which severely restrict the areas in which MCDs are allowed to locate. Proximity rules require MCDs to be at least 1,000 feet from elementary and secondary schools, and from youth facilities and recreation buildings serving people under 18. Moreover, the Board held (during the 2005 hearings on the MCA) that new MCDs could not be located in certain neighborhoods (e.g., Bayview-Hunters Point), and not in most residential neighborhoods. In addition, neighborhood groups were successful in not allowing applicant MCDs in North Beach, Oceanview and several other locations. As a result, the “Green Zones” where MCDs may locate need to be expanded. Patients throughout the City should be able to access MCDs in their own neighborhoods.

A related issue is “crowding,” i.e., multiple MCDs close to each other. This too is caused by the limited number of Green Zones in which MCDs may apply to locate.

The Medical Cannabis Task Force is currently discussing a number of options to address clustering and crowding solutions in the City and County of San Francisco.


6. Discussion of Supplemental Year-End Report to address incomplete submittals
Discussion held to create a supplemental year-end report. No public comments were made. Voted and approved to create a supplemental year-end report.

7. Discussion and Approval for MCTF Annual Report Submittal Process
Discussion and public comments heard on approval for Medical Cannabis Task Force Annual Submittal Process. Voted and approved to delegate Martin Olive and Stephanie Tucker to make grammatical, typographical, and formatting changes to the report. Report is to be submitted to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, copied to others via email, and have the report posted to the website.

8. Discuss Letter of Recommendation regarding Carol Lei’s exemplary service to the Medical Cannabis Task Force
Discussion held to approve a Letter of Recommendation regarding Carol Le’s exemplary service to the Medical Cannabis Task Force, when drafted. No public comments were made. Voted and approved.

9. Review committee member statuses and approve candidates for committees
Discussion held to temporarily suspend the Task Force’s bylaws and approve Derek St. Pierre to take over as chair of the Legal Committee. Public comments were made. Voted and approved. Bylaws were reinstated.

Resignations made by Kevin Reed, Patrick Goggin, and David Goldman from the committees they were on. Discussion held to approve all candidates applying for committees. No public comments were made. Voted and not approved. Candidates will be reviewed in the next meeting.

10. General Public Comments
General public comments were heard.

11. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 12:10p.m.

Minutes taken by Carol Lei