OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Oakland has refused to allow private marijuana clubs, fearing a federal crackdown that would close dispensaries for medical marijuana permitted in California.
City Council members this week said Measure Z, which passed in November 2004, does not allow the commercial sale of marijuana. The referendum makes adult marijuana use the police department's lowest law-enforcement priority in an effort to decriminalize it.
The U.S. Justice Department argues that federal laws supersede referendums approved in California and a few other states allowing people with cancer, AIDS and some other diseases to use marijuana. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the federal government.
Federal agencies, so far, have avoided strict enforcement of the ban on medical marijuana.
