Show Your Support for Medical Cannabis in Walnut Creek, Get Some Free Pizza

Walnut Creek residents and others who support safe and reliable access to medical cannabis for local patients are invited to a meeting Thursday evening--and some free pizza.

The organizers of the meeting Thursday at Rocco's Pizza Ristorante say they support the Walnut Creek City Council's effort to "create a well-regulated ordinance that protects patient's safe access to medical cannabis."

The organizers are looking to get a group of community activists and patients together in Walnut Creek, and the surrounding areas, in order to stress the need and advocate for responsible, community-based medical marijuana dispensaries.

If you're interested in attending, the meeting will be 6 to 8 p.m. at Rocco's Pizzeria Ristorante in the Encina Grande shopping center at Ygnacio Valley and Oak Grove roads.

Walnut Creek's medical marijuana to close Monday

Brian Hyman is giving up the fight to keep open Walnut Creek's controversial medical marijuana dispensary. The CEO of C3 Collective said that he'll close his Oakland Boulevard business Monday, a month after a Superior Court judge ordered the dispensary to close by Tuesday or face contempt-of-court charges.

C3 Collective opened in August, but it has been a bumpy ride to say the least. While the business, which claimed it offered legitimate, legal services only to people with medical marijuana prescriptions, the city immediately moved to close it down. The city, which is still studying the issue of whether it wants to allow any kind of medical marijuan dispensary within its borders, said the collective violated city zoning laws and slapped it with a $500-a-day fine.

Hyman talked about how he did the meet-and-greet with city, business and police officials--to support him staying open. The collective went so far as to join the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce, a move that accorded it this ribbon-cutting welcome by chamber representatives (Hyman is more optimistic times, back in October, when he hosted Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce members at its ribbon-cutting opening.)

Finally, the judge agreed with the city and ordered the collective closed. Hyman says he will fight the penalties, which have accumulated to more than $60,000.

Judge orders Walnut Creek’s pot club closed

A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge granted a request for a preliminary injunction from the city of Walnut Creek and ordered the nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary to close by March 23 or to face contempt-of-court charges.  

C3 opened in August, but the city said its operations, near the Almond-Shuey neighborhood on Oakland Boulevard, violated city zoning laws.

In an interview with the Contra Costa Times, Bryan Wenter, assistant city attorney says that the city is not campaigning against medical marijuana by targeted this business for closure. Residents in Walnut Creek have plenty of other ways to get their pot.

“There are numerous other sources of medical marijuana in this county and other nearby counties . … There are also delivery services that come to Walnut Creek. … This is a land use matter.”

In the fall, before the club  hosted its official Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce-attended grand opening, the city began fining C3 Collective $500 a day it was found opened. The city then filed a lawsuit in September, seeking a permanent injunction.  The preliminary injunction is a first step in that process.

C3 leaders did not respond to the Times’ calls for comment. And, as I just drove by, the club appeared to be closed with No Trespassing signs posted out front.

"Soccer Moms" support legalizing pot in California, according to poll

Californians are likely to have the chance to vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana.  Proponents of an initiative, known as the Tax and Regulate Initiative, have gathered more than enough signatures to put it on November's ballot, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting. The measure would give local governments the authority to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana to adults 21 and older.

And, apparently that's a key reason that suburban "soccer moms," the swing voters on this issue, are likely to say yes.  These moms apparently want their adult children to have a safer way to buy pot, Ruth Bernstein, a pollster with EMC Research in Oakland told the Chronicle. The firm is doing polling and focus groups on behalf of the measure's proponents.

"One of the scary things to some people is that their kids may be buying it from someone dangerous," Bernstein said.

The story continues:

Some soccer moms acknowledge that it is relatively easy for even their adult children to buy potm Berstein said. They have talked with their kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Twelve percent of those surveyed have smoked weed and 19 percent say a family member has, according to an EMC survey of 800 likely voters in August.



Bernstein said parents are worried about "this scary black-market system."

The story adds:

Legalization advocates want to capitalize on a wave of renewed interest in legalization, much of it bolstered by a state Board of Equalization study saying that the taxing and regulating of marijuana could raise as much as $1.4 billion in annual revenue.


Proponents say that resonates with Californians in light of the state's projected $20.7 billion budget deficit from now through the fiscal year that begins July 1.

This Soccer Mom has raised questions about medical and recreational marijuana in this story (and others listed below)--specifically why we affluent adult suburbanites can legally and recreationally enjoy our wine bars and apple-tinis and sports park brews--and get sloshed at fundraising galas for worthy local charities and school auctions. 

But people who prefer marijuana as their drug of choice can't officially use it for recreational use.

Oh, and my guess is that a lot of us affluent suburbanites enjoying our wine flights and artisan cocktails at least tried pot, recreationally, back in our younger days...

And, hey, maybe some of the local school districts could get ahold of some of that legal pot tax revenue. Why not? We could get those class sizes back down in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and save its fourth and fifth grade music programs and spare other local districts the now annual uncertainty over whether they will have to lay off teachers and cut more programs....

Pot, a treatment for alcoholism? But no "cure" yet for what ails Walnut Creek's own pot club

Could Walnut Creek follow West Hollywood's medical marijuana example?

Marijuana Paranoia: Our perplexing attitudes about pot and crime, but what about crime and that other socially acceptable mind-altering substance?

Pot, a treatment for alcoholism? But no "cure" yet for what ails Walnut Creek's own pot club

As members of Walnut Creek’s embattled pot club, C3 Collective staged a small “protest” at the City Council meeting Tuesday evening, new research from a UC-Berkeley lecturer made headlines in the medical marijuana world, suggesting marijuana as a treatment for alcoholism and addiction to other drugs.

“Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol,” says Amanda Reiman, a lecturer at Cal’s School of Social Welfare, in her study, published in BioMed Central's open access Harm Reduction Journal.

Reiman considers cannabis to be a potentially safer drug than alcohol with fewer “negative side effects.” Her research focuses on the study and evaluation of medical marijuana dispensaries—such as C3 Collective on Oakland Boulevard—as community health providers, and on using cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs.

Her latest study features a poll of 350 cannabis users. The poll found that 40 percent used it to control their alcohol cravings, 66 percent as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26 percent for other, more potent, illegal drugs.

I know, I know. It would be nice if addicts of alcohol and other drugs could just give up all substances and live a clean, sober life. It’s challenging enough for me to give up some of my bad habits to have great admiration for a friend who gave up his long-time addiction to smoking.

Anyway, I’ve read up enough on the bio-physical realities of addiction to know that, for some people and with some drugs, it might take a lot more than will power, strong moral fiber, or a "higher power," to break free of an addiction.

Reiman belongs to the "harm reduction" approach to helping people address their self-destructive behavior. This approach, yes, has its detractors. She seems to believe that letting some addicts substitute pot for another, more harmful, substance, might be one way to go for them.

So, with this approach, could this mean that if you’re an alcoholic or a meth addict you could go to a doctor and get a prescription to smoke some pot instead of going to AA or NA? And could it mean that one day you could get your pot from C3 Collective?

That is, if C3 Collective, which opened this past summer, stays in business …

Collective members were at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, asking the city to stop trying to close it down, according to the Contra Costa Times. C3 currently is ordered to pay $500 a day in fines every day it is open for zoning violations.

While Walnut Creek has launched a study to look at if and how it would ever allow a medical marijuana dispensary to open in town, city officials currently say "no" to any pot clubs right now because their operation is illegal under federal law—though they are legal under state law. Walnut Creek officials have also filed a suit to shut down the collective because it, like any pharmacy, would be prohibited under zoning laws from operating in that particular location.

Could Walnut Creek follow West Hollywood's medical marijuana example?

I can see how the arrest over a suspect in the pot-deal-related shooting death of 17-year-old Rylan Fuchs will reignite the local debate about possible crime increases associated with legalizing for medical or recreational uses. In fact, Mickey Martin, a medical marijuana advocate and a regular contributor to CrazyinSuburbia's message board, already commented on my post about Wednesday’s arrest of Berkeley man in the Danville teen’s death.

All I can say that pot being illegal didn’t keep Fuchs safe. Yes, a drug deal gone bad, as authorities painted it, came to safe, suburban Danville. And, who knows whether Danville’s likely decision Monday to extend its temporary ban on allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in that town will prevent more such crimes.

Perhaps Walnut Creek, and Danville, for that matter, can look to another community for guidance on how to sucessfully regulate such businesses.

West Hollywood--that 1.9-square-mile bastion of progressive politics, surrounded by the Los Angeles behemoth—has adopted what has been described in the Los Angeles Times as a strict ordinance on medical marijuana operations. The result?

A peaceful and even welcome co-existence between pot clubs and their neighbors.

In West Hollywood, city officials say, it's been more than two years since a resident has complained about a dispensary. Neighborhood watch leaders say their streets are safer because the dispensary guards are required to walk nearby blocks. School officials welcome dispensaries as neighbors. And the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, which patrols the city, says there have been no recent crimes at dispensaries and no calls from agitated neighbors.

How did this come about?

Confronted with its own dispensary explosion in 2005, [West Hollywood] imposed a moratorium on dispensaries, clamped interim rules on the ones that were open, passed a strict ordinance and capped the number allowed at four, all within two years.

The city also decided that dispensaries, to discourage robberies, must deposit each day's cash and meet regularly with city officials to discuss any problems, which so far have been few. Security guards have to patrol a two-block radius to prevent loitering and smoking, and guards must be unarmed.

One of West Hollywood’s dispensaries, Farmacy, is located within 500 feet of a private school. A school parents group initially complained about people smoking pot in a nearby parking lot, so Farmacy’s pharmacist, who has treated critically ill patients with marijuana for more than 15 years, started working with the parents’ group. She gave them tours of her store, hired security and banned smoking in the parking lot. The Farmacy, like the other dispensaries, belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and its manager serves on a community advisory board.

"We're just part of the community, a part of the neighborhood,” the pharmacist told the Los Angeles Times.

Walnut Creek’s new and controversial dispensary, C3 Collective, likewise belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Oakland Boulevard business even received a big Chamber of Commerce welcome at its official grand opening, as I reported. C3 Collective’s CEO Brian Hyman has likewise offered business, city, and police leaders tours of his store and stated a desire for the dispensary to be part of the community.

We’ll see what happens with our own pot club.

Berkeley man charged in Danville teen's pot-robbery killing

A 19-year-old Berkeley man appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court Thursday, on charges that he shot to death 17-year-old Rylan Fuchs on the front porch of his Danville home while trying to rob him of some marijuana.

Walter Bell faces special circumstances murder charges, alleging that he shot Fuchs during the commission of a robbery. If convicted, Bell faces the death penalty.

Fuchs, a senior at Danville's San Ramon Valley High School, was killed at about 9:15 p.m. January 20, just outside his home on El Capitan Drive. According to various news reports, authorities believe that Fuchs was selling pot and that Bell tried to rob him.

It's unclear how many people were outside Fuchs' home when he was shot. A 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection of the killing shortly after it happened, but he was never charged. He was re-arrested Thursday, though the extent of his involvement remains unclear.

Your kid’s brain, and how alcohol, pot, and other drugs can mess with its development

So much is going on in brain science these days: it’s all pretty exciting and illuminating.

Scientists can scan brains and see, for example, how the brain of someone with schizophrenia differs from someone who doesn’t have it. They also understand more about the biology of addiction, and they know that our brains apparently don’t stop growing and developing until we’re 25. So, there are apparently biological, anatomical reasons for why, for example, our middle-schoolers have trouble organizing all those damned pesky homework binders, and our teen-agers act like idiots. Why they truly don’t get long-term consequences of risky behavior, including having sex before they are ready and using and abusing alcohol, pot, and other drugs.

(For the record, I was a teen-aged idiot. Big time!)

If you want to learn more about the impact of alcohol and other drugs on your kids’ brains, you’re invited to attend a free talk Tuesday evening by drug educator Ralph Cantor at Stanley Intermediate School in Lafayette.

How Drugs Hijack the Teenage Brain: Do you really know how marijuana and alcohol interfere with the learning that is supposed to take place during the teenage years?

That’s the title of the talk, which starts at 7 p.m., and here's how it is described:

Adolescence is the time when teens are supposed to be working on self identity, dealing with stress, boredom, emotional growth, intellectual development and learning to socialize with others. Drugs and alcohol not only impair decision-making abilities but also interrupt your child’s ability to master these evelopmental tasks. Join us at Stanley for an informative evening and Q & A with esteemed Drug Educator, Ralph Cantor and the Stanley Counseling Staff. The talk is sponsored by Stanley’s Parent Teacher Association.

Meanwhile, middle school is not too early to start talking to kids about alcohol, drugs, etc. We all knew that, right?

And, the “just say no” approach is so Nancy Reagan ‘80s.

This view comes from a host of articles I came across while searching around for research on drugs, alcohol, and child brain development--and on educating kids on the risks associated with early substance use and abuse.

Here's one. When 'Just Say No' Isn't Enough: Try Science, from Science Daily:

Teens are fascinated by their brains, the way they work, change, and even "freeze" sometimes. The American Association for the Advancement of Science recommends that parents, teachers and caregivers use that fascination to engage middle and high school students this holiday season in a discussion of why they shouldn't drink alcohol.

Scientists used to believe that human brains finished developing before adolescence. But according to The Science Inside Alcohol Project, an alcohol education effort of the AAAS that is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), new and ongoing brain research shows that important brain regions and their interconnections are still developing well into a person's twenties … Alcohol can damage or even kill neurons, perhaps altering development of those parts of the adolescent brain that are still forming.

Alcohol can cause kids to make bad decisions, develop a tolerance for alcohol and drink more, take risks, harm their memories.

Other articles for your perusal: Middle Schoolers And Alcohol: Tips For Parents , and Access To Alcohol Among Middle School Children (Hint: they get it from us! Duh! )

Meanwhile, there is a whole body of research on possible links between alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use and mental illness, particularly the use of cannabis and the onset of psychosis linked to schizophrenia. This research gets into the whole chicken-egg question. Does marijuana use cause schizophrenia? (IMHO, I strongly doubt it.) Or do kids at risk of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses use pot, alcohol, and other drugs to self-medicate, to quiet the anxiety, depression, mania, and voices associated with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses?

But then, does use of these substances provide what you might call an environmental trigger for genetically vulnerable kids? If a child, preteen, or teen, vulnerable to a mental illness, becomes a heavy pot user at an early age, will the drug trigger the psychosis that was lurking there, ready to emerge?

Fascinating stuff. Important stuff, especially for parents of children whose families have histories of addiction to alcohol and drugs and histories of mental illness.

Hmm, that’s probably about 90 percent of the population, right?

But if you're interested, here is another article on research into the substance abuse/mental illness link among children and teens:

Children's mental health, substance abuse association studied:

Research is underway at Rutgers University that seeks to examine links between children's mental health problems and alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drug use over time. It is very common for people who have schizophrenia to also suffer from addictions - and this new research is targeted at better understanding this problem.

Our local pot club not necessarily celebrating the Obama administration's policy on not prosecuting medical marijuana sales

The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this week that it will not enforce a federal pot law in states that allow the sale of medical marijuana.

But this news has been met with everything from optimism to wariness to disappointment to outright denunciation among advocates of medical marijuana. Supposedly, patients in states where medical marijuana is legal, including California, can now light up without fear of federal reprisal.

But ...

An editorial in the Contra Costa Times says the new guidelines for federal prosecutors, handed down this week with the blessing of Attorney General Eric Holder, are "not good enough."

They are "are an attempt to thread a political needle rather than a recognition of the value of the drug and a deferral to the desire of voters in 14 states."

Yes, it is heartening, the Times says, that federal prosecutors are told to not focus resources on "individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."

Still, the federal policy states that " 'clear and unambiguous compliance with state law' " is not a legal defense to violation of federal law."

Bottom line, the Times says, these new "squishy" guidelines fail to offer providers of medical marijuana any real protection from being prosecuted under federal law. These operators could still be prosecuted, if federal prosecutors get an itch to do so.

Sure, no one is naive enough to believe that every pot club, or every doctor taking payment to write medical marijuana prescriptions, is only dispensing to people who are seriously suffering from painful, devastating, life-alterating medical conditions. Sure, some people might be manipulating the medical marijuana system to obtain pot for recreational purposes. Okay, I might be venturing here into the whole debate over whether the use and sales of marijuana should be legalized. (I think it should, as I've suggested before.)

Meanwhile, back to decriminalizing the use and sales of medical marijuana: There might be medical marijuana dispensaries that are--OMG--operating legitimately, legally, and responsibly. That is, they are only selling it to people with a true medical need.

It's possible that there are a number of such facilities in California, in the Bay Area, even in Walnut Creek.

With regard to our hometown pot club--C3 Collective: This business appears to have put in quite an effort to demonstrate its desire to stay in Walnut Creek and to work with the local business leaders and the city to show it can be a good neighbor and a positive community member. The Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce welcomed C3 Collective's opening a couple weeks ago (pictured above), although chamber members, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, hastened to add that they always welcome new businesses and members to its organization.

The New York Times Bay Area blog talked to C3 Collective's CEO Brian Hyman. He was guarded about the new federal guidelines. Federal guidelines or not, C3 Collective continues to rack up fines of up to $500 a day from the city for continuing to dispense marijuana. According to the city, C3 Collective's decision to dispense marijuana puts it in violation of city zoning codes and a nuisance ordinance that prohibits the operation of any organization in the city that violates federal law.

“It’s really sad to see such a level of change and understanding and reflection and then to have our collective get put through the ringer,” Hyman told the New York Times.

But City Attorney Paul Valle-Riestra said the C3 collective received its business permit without disclosing the fact that it sells marijuana. Its owners "knew from the outset it wasn’t something the city allowed," Valle-Riestra told the Times.

Nonetheless, the city has launched an in-house study over if and how it will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to open in town. As the New York Times concluded: The Justice Department memo and C3 Collective's situation "raise the question whether and how cities and counties will manage medical marijuana dispensaries in the future."

Walnut Creek Chamber welcomes C3 Collective with ribbon-cutting ceremony

C3 Collective, the controversial medical marijuana dispensary, officially opened its doors this week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony overseen by (pictured above) CEO Brian Hyman and representatives of the city's Chamber of Commerce.

Yes, it is a delicate matter for the Chamber, celebrating the opening of a business against which the city has filed suit. The city asserts that the Oakland Boulevard dispensary is operating illegally because it is violating Walnut Creek's zoning laws. Hyman says that C3 Collective is piling up about $500 a day in fines and must pay up nearly $15,000 by the first week of November. But he adds that C3 is determined to stay open. It wants to be a part of the community and to provide vital medical services to the public, he says.

C3 Collective also serves as the city's first, openly operating reminder of the local, state, and national debate on if and when to make marijuana legal for certain purposes.

Despite the controversy, one chamber "ambassador" said that the chamber makes it a practice to welcome new businesses to the city, and new members to its organization. The C3 Collective, a nonprofit "wellness collective," joined the chamber, and is therefore entitled to a chamber ribbon cutting ceremony.

The ceremony was accompanied by live music, and plates of sandwiches, salads and cookies provided by Morucci's, the excellent Boulevard Way delicatessen. Some attendees, including chamber representatives, were delightfully surprised by the clean and chic interiors of the collective--dark, hardwood floors, modernist furniture. A few joked about whether the refreshments would also include some free samples of the featured product.

Besides being able to purchase marijuana--for the time being, for however long it can stay open--members can also enjoy "wellness services," such as yoga, meditation, and massage classes, and can find referrals for legal consulting and hospice services.

C3 Collective, which, in fact, boasts of a "chic, boutique environment," offers a variety of medical marijuana products: "top-shelf strains to suit the divergent tastes of our patients." The collective seeks to find "what is best for each individual, hoping to consistently and effectively deliver the results that each individual wants."

Chic? Boutique? Well, you couldn't expect anything less from Walnut Creek, could you?

Marijuana Paranoia: Our perplexing attitudes about pot and crime, but what about crime and that other socially acceptable mind-altering substance?

I’m sure some opponents of Walnut Creek allowing a medical marijuana dispensary in town are frothing at this local news: How a shooting erupted in Concord Sunday over an attempt by six suspects (er, idiots) to steal marijuana plants being legally grown in someone’s back yard.

Apparently, a man suffered a flesh wound in the leg, possibly at the hands of his own associates, after he or someone from his crew was caught in the backyard of a home where the residents had a legal right to grow marijuana for medical purposes. You can read more about the attempted pot plant theft, the attempted getaway, and the shooting at Claycord.com.

But certainly, the Reefer Madness fearmongers would say, such an incident shows that allowing a medical marijuana dispensary in Walnut Creek will attract similar robberies and other violent crime to our fair city.

And, absolutely, these fear mongers would assert, such an incident provides more evidence that marijuana is a dangerous, destructive, crime- and violence-ridden drug.

It would be silly of me to say that marijuana cultivation, sales, use, and abuse are victimless, crime-free vocations. There is this incident, and, off the top of my head, I can think of two recent homicides in the East Bay suburbs that possibly involved pot deals gone bad. They include the shooting death of 17-year-old Rylan Fuchs of Danville earlier this year and the December 2007 killing of Eric Martin, of Pittsburg, in Walnut Creek over a failed marijuana growing and distribution scheme.

But are there any other mind-altering substances, whose cultivation and/or manufacture, sales, use, and abuse attract crime, including robberies, assaults, and homicide?

Of course!Alcohol!

The stuff of beer, wine, and Grey Goose martinis.

Once again, I’ll repeat that alcohol—mostly in the form of red wine—is my drug of choice. I like it--perhaps too much. But that's a whole other story.

As for pot, I have not tried it since college. I didn't like it much then, and have no desire to use it at any time in the future. The smell? Ick.

And who wants to be around a bunch of stoners? If you're not stoned? Although, I have to say that being around a bunch of people blissed out on weed would be no worse than—and might even be preferable—to being around loud, annoying drunks. Among these drunks, I’m including a very obnoxiously vocal and tipsy silver-haired man in a polo shirt (a lawyer? Bank executive? Real estate entrepreneur?) who was toting a wine glass and making an ass of himself on North Main Street during last week’s Fall Wine Walk. This wine-tasting event, hosted by the Downtown Business Association, was, remember, a fundraiser to benefit local Walnut Creek schools.

Again, what about alcohol and it's connection to crime and destruction? No wait! Alcohol is legal, so it’s harmless, right? It doesn’t cause death, destruction, or crime, right?

Well, of course, we all know it does. We’re familiar with the fact that alcohol is involved in thousands of traffic fatalities every year across the United States. We also know that long-term alcohol abuse is associated with tragic health consequences, astronomical medical costs, and the breakdown of families and communities.

The U.S. government says about both alcohol and tobacco, which are both legal in this country, for recreational use, to people of a certain age: "Alcohol and tobacco cost society a great deal every year in terms of crime, lost productivity, tragedies, and deaths. ... As a result of legal settlements and vigorous public education efforts, many Americans are aware of the dangers of dependence and addiction associated with alcohol and tobacco use. Even so, alcohol and tobacco remain a significant part of the American health problem."

So, we might be aware that alcohol is a major health problem, but most of us probably don't think of it as a major crime problem as well. But it is, and like marijuana and other drugs, it contributes to our local, state, and national crime rates. Alcohol, notably, is a major factor in domestic violence.

From the U.S. Department of Justice:

• About 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense.


• Another Justice Department study found that that alcohol abuse was a factor in 40 percent of violent crimes committed in the United States.


• Among those victims who provided information about the offender's use of alcohol, about 30 percent of the victimizations involved an offender who had been drinking.


• Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate (a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor. Among spouse victims, three out of four incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking.

Let's return to alcohol’s contribution to annoying, life-style crimes in downtown Walnut Creek. As I mentioned in a prior story, the Walnut Creek police reported that 1515 Restaurant and Lounge attracted their attention seven times between late July and late August. Police had to come to arrest drunks, and patrons not cooperating with state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents. Police also had to hear from a father who was alarmed that his daughter got so tanked up on booze at 1515 and/or other downtown establishments that she couldn’t talk or walk, and had to be carried to her car.

1515 Restaurant operates legally, as do some nearly 100 other liquor-dispensing establishments in town. After crying about lost profits due to their 12:30 a.m. closing time, the owners of 1515, Jack and Tony Dudum, received permission from the City Council to stay open a half hour later. They needed this extra time so that they could sell more beer, wine, and cocktails--to earn more money. To stay in business. To turn a profit. That is, they were given permission to dispense more mind-altering substances legally, and for recreational purposes, with profit as a prime motive.

But pot? Well, some city leaders and members of the public have gotten huffy and expressed their grave concerns about C3 Collective—just one venue so far—dispensing pot in town. The owners of this pot club, which has been hit with a lawsuit to shut down, claim they are dispending pot, not for recreational purposes or for profit, but to benefit people with serious medical conditions.

C3 owners may or may not be telling the truth. I will assume they are, until someone proves otherwise. Meanwhile, we have plenty of other venues in downtown that are dispensing the mind-altering substance of alcohol—for recreational purposes and, most definitely, for a profit. I could fill a page with their names, but here are just a few. Besides the above-mentioned 1515, which by the way allegedly caters to an “mature, upscale crowd,” there are the upscale restaurants Prima, Va de Vi, Lark Creek Walnut Creek, and the Walnut Creek Yacht Club. There are also markets and drug stores like Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe’s (Two Buck Chuck!), Safeway, CVS Pharmacy, and 7-Eleven.

I'm sure in the history of any of these establishments--mostly likely the grocery and convenience stores--someone has come in and tried to steal a bottle or two of something. From my police reporting days, this was a fairly regular occurance at grocery and convenience stores: thefts of booze that amounted to a misdemeanor shoplifting. It might involve someone who is dependant on alcohol, shoplifting a bottle, or kids eager to get their hands on a six-pack or a bottle of hard liquor.

How is this kind of theft so much different from what those idiots in Concord were trying to do, when they were attempting to steal a bit of weed from that legally grown backyard crop?

Marijuana and alcohol: Both mind-altering substances. Both legal, with varying restrictions. Both promise to pleasure the senses, including smell and taste. Both offer the promise of relaxation, escape, and an altered mental state. And, both, when abused in terms of sales, distribution or use, become the source of devastating consequnces.

But why is one substance culturally embraced, celebrated as a symbol of the California good life, and used to entice people into donating money to help local school kids? And why is the other substance treated with contempt and mostly outlawed, when there is no evidence, I can find so far, that it causes society any more harm than the other? I'm trying to figure that one out.

Another good debate about marijuana--legalize or not, tax or not--at Claycord

In light of Monday's "biggest pot bust" in Pleasant Hill's history, another online debate is brewing--this one at Claycord.com, which reported the bust--regarding the rights and wrongs of marijuana use, cultivation, distribution, legalization, etc.

Claycord.com has the details about the bust, in which state narcotics agents and local police seized 907 marijuana plants and four pounds of the product at a rented home near Sunvalley Mall. The 33-year-old suspect was not a primary caregiver, but possessed a valid doctor's recommendation.

Bar stabbing in downtown Walnut Creek early Saturday, and we're worried about crime around the new pot club...

The blogger, the DUBC reports, in an exclusive, that someone was arrested for an assault with a deadly weapon--a stabbing--at Dan's Irish Sports Bar on Civic Drive.

No word on what led to the stabbing, and the victim apparently does not have life-threatening injuries. I'll update if more information comes in.

However, the Mayor of Claycord, in a comment on the DUBC post, says that there was no stabbing just someone getting a cut finger.

In the meantime, we have a stabbing at this sports bar, or some such incident apparently requiring police response, and we're worried about crime and other annoying behavior proliferating around the marijuana dispensary that opened up over on Oakland Boulevard.

As if crime and other annoying behavior don't proliferate around bars and liquor stores? Either in Walnut Creek or in any other cities. But wait! Aren't concerns about crime and other annoying behavior the reason that Walnut Creek city staff and police want to revisit the question of bar closing hours?

I don't get out to bar hop around Walnut Creek. Too old! If I were of a certain age, Dan's sounds like a fun, friendly place to go. Here's how it describes itself, with "plenty of beer on draft" and "cocktails galore." So that patrons can get a little relaxed, buzzed, high... On alcohol ...

Okay, enough said for now. And if more information comes in about the bar stabbing, I'll write it up.

Why doesn’t Walnut Creek vote to tax its new pot club?

We could follow the lead of Oakland, where 80 percent of voters in July said yes to a special landmark measure to tax sales of marijuana at the city’s four licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. Walnut Creek could become the second city in the United States to tax proceeds on medical marijuana. It could tax its new dispensary, the C3 Collective on Oakland Boulevard.

Walnut Creek could become another West Coast trend setter!

The Oakland measure imposes a 1.8-percent gross receipts tax, which amounts to about $18 for every 1,000 in marijuana sales. One Oakland dispensary, whose owner celebrated the measure, will have to pay more than $350,000 from the new tax next year. “It is important because the city of Oakland is facing a massive deficit like many jurisdictions in California," said the owner, Steve DeAngelo.


Hey, Walnut Creek is facing a major budget deficit. That’s one reason why the City Council and business and community leaders want Neiman Marcus to come to town: the potential sales tax revenues.

Okay, I can just hear the cries of outrage. How dare I compare posh Neiman Marcus and its posh patrons to a not-so-posh pot club and its maybe-not-so posh patrons?


To borrow a term from the great American capitalist Michael Corleone, I’m right now, for the sake of an argument, looking at this medical marijuana issue from a “strictly business” standpoint. Perhaps, the potential economic benefits revenues from having a medical marijuana dispensary in town could be one of the issues the city looks at as it studies the issue, after instituting its 45-day ban on C3 Collective's operations.

Fellow Walnut Creek blogger, the DUBC, touches on the economic motives of the medical marijuana business and has a very good debate going about the arrival of this dispensary in town. The DUBC also provides some interesting background on Brian Hyman, the owner of the C3 Collective, and of the club’s renowned, pro-marijuana supporters. You can read it here. Actually, the DUBC uses more harsh language in referring to these economic motives. He calls it a “medical marijuana sham.” The DUBC writes: “Let’s get real about this. It's about making money and getting high.”

(Making money and getting high? Gee, couldn’t you say the same thing about the liquor and wine industry and the bars around town. For liquor and wine makers and bar owners, isn’t it all about them making money to help us get high?)

The DUBC continues: “The legislation started with people that had ‘serious medical conditions.’ Now for every cancer patient there are a hundred 18- to 20-year-olds getting prescriptions for insomnia, back pain and stress. They pay $100 for a ten minute "consultation" and can go get their medicine. … If the people vote for legalization then we are all for it. Until then, keep this stuff out of our city.”

I agree that we as a society need to get this marijuana legalization question settled. For the record, I would probably be in favor of legalizing marijuana, not because I myself would partake—I tried it a couple times in high school and college and didn’t like it. I would be in favor because I like to drink wine, and not just for the flavor. I drink wine because, at the end of the day, it makes me feel nice. I don’t think I—or anyone else who seeks that “nice” feeling from a glass of wine or a lemondrop or apple-tini—is in the position to judge someone who prefers to smoke marijuana as their path to feeling "nice."

Also I voted for Proposition 215, but I agree with the point the DUBC is raising about the real motives of many in the medical marijuana world. These pot growers, distributors, and dealers, as well as producers of paraphernalia and pot candy, didn’t entirely get into the business to ease the suffering of cancer and AIDS patients. Oh, sure, some might genuinely view themselves as healers, and some might do some good for very sick people.

But, it’s also about money. Lots and lots of money.

And speaking of money, in my post yesterday, arguing that Wallnut Creek is not all that conservative, one reader correctly pointed out that our non-partisan city government generally leads towards retail, real estate and other business concerns. Such as Neiman Marcus, and urban-style mixed-use developments, and bars and restaurants. So, if that’s how our city council leans, why not throw the C3 Collective into this mix of potential local revenue generators?


As for the DUBC’s statement about keeping “this stuff out of our city.” Well, I’m sure he knows that this stuff is already in our city, whether it comes from C3 Collective or some dealer peddling in a parking lot.