The Property Management Shop
by Marc Wilson
Q. Last year, a medial cannabis dispensary (pot club) opened for business in our neighborhood. Since then, we have been subjected to a literal caravan of miscreants and drug users loitering in and around our streets. The pot-club operators are not responsive to our concerns. Our local supervisor will not return our phone calls. Is this club operating legally? Our neighborhood is being destroyed by their "patients." Do we need to disclose the presence of this club to prospective tenants? Do we have any legal recourse against this club? What can we do?
A. What a coincidence! I was just reading a front-page article about the flight of families with children from San Francisco. Apparently, San Francisco enjoys the unique distinction of being the city with the lowest population of children in the free world. I wonder why? Let's see—we have no neighborhood schools, the public schools to which we must commute are academically comical, our streets are filthy, graffiti is considered an art form, our board of supervisors is a national joke and, now, pot clubs are becoming as prolific as Starbucks coffee joints. What is wrong with this picture? Why is the most mismanaged city in the nation spending its time, resources and limited funds on something as dangerous and counterproductive as pot clubs? When did we lose our way?
We lost our collective way—and our collective minds, I might add—when Californians passed Proposition 215 by a landslide. Prop. 215 "allows persons to grow or possess marijuana for medical use when recommended by a physician. The measure provides for the use of marijuana when a physician has determined that the person's health would benefit from its use. The physician's recommendation may be oral or written. No prescriptions or other record keeping is required. Caregivers are allowed to grow and possess marijuana for a person for whom marijuana is recommended." Are you getting the picture? The only rule is that there are no rules.
In my opinion, there are many reasons why pot clubs in any community are a decidedly bad idea. These include the role of federal law, the "rue" classification of marijuana as a hard drug, the risk to physicians, the underlying economic racism and the users themselves.
Federal Law
Prop. 215 is against federal law. These clubs are operating in
violation of the law. What does this mean? It means that the Feds
can and will turn the screws on these clubs whenever they feel
like having some fun. It also means that no reputable member of
the community would ever operate a pot club. How many responsible
citizens would risk their homes, their children's educations and
their financial security to supply an illegal substance? You simply
can't run a business in violation of federal law if you have any
net worth. You can't get insurance for a business that is in violation
of federal law. The proprietors of pot clubs, without exception,
have no net worth and no insurance. You wouldn't want these people
running a soda fountain in your neighborhood, let alone a drug
dispensary.
Today's Hard Drug
These people are not peddling "your fathers' marijuana." This stuff
is absolutely nasty. In 1974, when I was in high school, the active
ingredient of marijuana—THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)—averaged less
than 1%. By 1994, the average was 4%. Today's marijuana averages
a whoping THC content of 7.5 to 24%. This dope is, in many cases,
24 times more powerful than the harmless doobie you toked at your
senior prom. No reasonable person would classify today's marijuana
as anything other than a hard drug.
Risk to Physicians
All other hard drugs are dispensed by licensed physicians with
legitimate prescriptions. There is accountability. Physicians who
write bogus prescriptions are vulnerable to investigations for
violations of state and federal laws, medical incompetence and
unprofessional behavior. A finding of guilt will result in fines,
a jail sentence and/or license revocation. Doctors take their responsibilities
in this regard seriously because their jobs are at stake. Responsible
physicians are not issuing medial marijuana cards because they
do not want to jeopardize their license to practice medicine.
Economic
Racism
The presence of pot clubs in your neighborhood represents the worst
kind of economic racism. You don't see pot clubs opening in the
Marina or Pacific Heights. Why in the world is there no pot club
on Chestnut Street? These neighborhoods have the financial wherewithal
to prevent "pot-club madness"in their community. Believe me, even
the most radical of our city's supervisors wouldn't dare support
a pot club in a neighborhood that is capable of defending itself.
Instead, pot clubs are placed in defenseless neighborhoods. Low-income
neighborhoods and neighborhoods with a high percentage of renters
are the likely and predictable targets. How can you support a policy
that so blatantly victimizes defenseless neighborhoods and low-income
people? How in the world can one justify the existence of a pot
club in Bay View, but not in the Marina? Pure hypocrisy.
The Users
Most of the time, the clientele frequenting S.F. pot clubs represent
the worst elements of our society. You will simply never witness
a cross section of society entering the doors of your local pot
club. The incidences of alcohol addiction, drug dependence, homelessness,
unemployment, underemployment and poverty are infinitely higher
among pot-club enthusiasts. Why is this? Do the people standing
in line at pot clubs look anything like the people standing in
line at the pharmacy or at Safeway? Of course they don't.
Back to the question—you probably are required to disclose to prospective tenants the presence of a pot club in your neighborhood. You definitely need to disclose this fact if you ever sell your property.
Unfortunately, general tenant and buyer disclosures are the least of your problems. Your neighborhood is under siege. The pot-club proprietor is nothing more than a profit-seeking businessman. He is only interested in the unbelievable gains available in the San Francisco dope trade. The proprietor has made the conscious decision to trade the quality of your life for his increased personal income. Any diminishment in your quality of life simply does not register on the proprietor's balance sheet. He simply doesn't care. It is your job to make him care.
How do you make him care? You go to war. You and your neighbors make the absolute resolution to dedicate your lives to the removal of the pot club. Believe me, the pot-club proprietor is one of the weakest adversaries that you will face. Are you telling me that you kept a Walgreens from moving into your neighborhood and you can't stop a pot club? The pot-club proprietor has no money, no resources, no community standing and no history of community involvement. He and his political allies will not stomach a sustained battle with a well-organized neighborhood group. Get involved. Get organized. Form a neighborhood coalition and go to work. Picket the pot club. Picket the house of the property owner. Storm City Hall. Write letters. Go on a campaign. Make life miserable for the pot-club proprietor, the property owner and your local supervisor. Demonstrate that your community is not defenseless. This is a just fight. This is a fight that you must fight. This is a fight that you can and will win.
There is no one more disappointed and disillusioned with the "war on drugs" than I am. The only thing that disappoints me more than pot clubs in residential neighborhoods is the billions of dollars spent on the bureaucracies, salaries and benefits related to drug law enforcement. I give 50% of my income to the government just so I can watch a bunch of Keystone Cops chase drug traffickers. The drug dealers make undue profits (and pay no taxes). Politicians, meanwhile, fill their re-election funds with pot-club money, and government employees wind up retiring at the age of 50 with full benefits. What do you and I get out of the deal? Pot clubs in our neighborhoods.
There is no doubt that people with real medical needs should be able to obtain medicinal marijuana. There is also no doubt that the neighborhood pot-club model does not even come close to accomplishing this objective. Why can't marijuana be distributed at police stations or at hospitals? One way or the other, the distribution model needs to be changed until the line of people at the marijuana dispensary looks exactly like the line of people at the pharmacy. There is no reasonable argument for why the current disparity exists.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Marc Wilson is the president of SFAA. Marc has specialized in the brokerage of San Francisco apartment buildings for 20 years. He can be reached at 415-229-1275. Copyright © 2005 by the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. All rights reserved.