New guidelines from the California Attorney General's office aim to clear up some of the confusion that has long plagued the state's 1996 medical-marijuana law, the Oakland Tribune reported Sept. 1.

The guidelines, issued by AG Jerry Brown this week, give legal sanction under state law to storefront medical-marijuana collectives, but also clarify the circumstances under which law enforcement can go after drug dealers using the law as a front for illicit marijuana sales. "It clarifies the rules and makes it easier for law enforcement to do their jobs...and the users and advocates are happy because it restated what is permitted by the initiative and the statute," Brown said. "It did what law is supposed to do -- it set the ground rules for action both by individuals and by the government."

Dispensaries cannot be operated for profit, the guidelines say, and must maintain detailed records, including documents proving that customers are legitimate medical users.

"The collective should not purchase marijuana from, or sell to, nonmembers; instead, it should only provide a means for facilitating or coordinating  transactions between members," the new guidelines state. "The cycle should be a closed circuit of marijuana cultivation and consumption with no purchases or sales to or from nonmembers. To help prevent diversion of medical marijuana to nonmedical markets, collectives and cooperatives should document each member's contribution of labor, resources, or money to the enterprise. They also should track and record the source of their marijuana."

Some California communities have outright banned medical-marijuana dispensaries, which advocates contend violates the state's compassionate-use law. Some local officials said that while they are reviewing the guidelines, they are just that -- advice that is not legally binding.

"We've always believed that dispensaries should be regulated as opposed to the 'Wild, Wild West' situation," said Americans for Safe Access Chief Counsel Joe Elford. "Many, if not most, of the clubs are already in compliance, and I think in the not-so-distant future the vast majority of them will be. They wanted guidelines too, so they'd know what to do to comply with California law."

Brown's office and federal law enforcement continue to conduct raids on medical-marijuana dispensaries thought to be violating state and/or federal laws.