ng Dini t u O JUNE 4, 2010 VOLUME 18, NO. 22
AL CASU FROM DINING E to FIN the on ULA
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INSIDE: WEEKEND | PAGE 15
In this issue: Dining Out from casual to fine dining on the Peninsula MountainViewOnline.com
Medi-pot regulations are no slam dunk COUNCIL MEMBERS DISAGREE OVER MARIJUANA SAFETY-TESTING By Daniel DeBolt
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TUAN NGUYEN
Young swimmers Malena Nguyen, 8, left, and Jordan Nguyen,10, wait for the ferry to Alcatraz with their coach, Brandon Johnson, on April 10.
Kids conquer Alcatraz swim BROTHER, SISTER AMONG YOUNGEST TO COMPLETE CHILLY ENDURANCE TEST By Emily Hamilton
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n the morning of April 10, eight-year-old Malena Nguyen and her 10-year-old brother Jordan
woke up early. They didn’t have a special breakfast, “unless a bagel is special,” Jordan says, giggling. They took a ferry across the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz, the former prison-
island. And then they hopped into the 52-degree water. “At first you don’t realize you’re cold because you’re in See ALCATRAZ, page 8
isagreements on the City Council Tuesday appeared to threaten the passage of an ordinance allowing regulated marijuana dispensaries in Mountain View. Though five members have supported the passage of such an ordinance on the seven-member council, at Tuesday’s meeting council members John Inks and Tom Means, both Libertarians, wanted few regulations on dispensaries while other council members wanted the dispensaries to be highly-regulated or not to exist at all. Council member Jac Siegel opposed the ordinance while member Laura Macias was absent. At the end of the June 1 study session, some members said they would block the ordinance over their disagreements. “It is just a plant,” said Councilman Tom Means, in response to other council members who said the city should require marijuana be lab-tested for safety before it is sold in Mountain View storefront dispensaries. Mayor Ronit Bryant and others
Pot club to stay open at least a few more days JUDGE REFUSES CITY’S DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE INJUNCTION By Daniel DeBolt
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he operator of Mountain View’s only marijuana dispensary was elated Wednesday about a judge’s reluctance to immediately shut down the dispensary at the city’s request. Santa Clara County superior court Judge Joseph Huber took the case under “advisement” and could make a decision on whether to shut Buddy’s Cannabis
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Patient Collective down in a few days, said Matt Lucero, who operates Buddy’s on Bayshore Parkway. Lucero, a former corporate attorney, said he was impressed by Huber, who cleared his schedule Wednesday morning, June 2, to focus on the case. “He seemed to have very significant problem with approving an injunction this early,” Lucero said. Attorneys representing the city of
Mountain View are seeking a preliminary injunction to immediately shut down Buddy’s, which was anticipated Wednesday. The city is also seeking a permanent injunction that could be granted after a jury trial. The city’s attorneys argue that the city has the right to shut down Buddy’s under the city’s zoning policies and its moratorium on dispensaries that went into effect in March. Lucero believes
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said that is what the Federal Drug Administration requires for any other medication. Means, an economic professor at San Jose State University called it an” excessive inspection of goods,” adding that “if operational requirements become excessive I won’t be able to support these things.” “Well, if we don’t have operational requirements I won’t be able to support these things,” Bryant said in response. Bryant, a cancer survivor who has said she seriously considered using medical marijuana herself, appeared to be seriously reconsidering her support for the ordinance. “I’m not sure I am ready for an ordinance,” Bryant said at the end of the two-hour discussion. Bryant was worried Mountain View would become the “go to” place for medical marijuana dispensaries which are banned in surrounding cities. Los Altos and Palo Alto have bans and there is a moratorium in Sunnyvale. “I have no interest in being the center for dispensaries in our See MEDI-POT, page 9
state law, including proposition 215, supersedes the city’s right to shut down the dispensary and believes he has a case that could go to the state Supreme Court The city’s moratorium was put in place before the dispensary opened in April, in order to buy the city time to draft regulations allowing dispensaries. Lucero believes his dispensary already meets all of the requirements that he heard the City Council consider in a discussion Tuesday night. “Everything they said they wanted we See POT, page 11