Jacob Bell
New Member
Fresno County supervisors are expected to enact a ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries next week. But the fight over medical pot likely won't end there.
Advocates of the drug are preparing to launch a signature drive to overturn the ban after Tuesday's Board of Supervisors' meeting. Local dispensary owners already are vowing legal action to block the law.
"We're not backing down from this fight," said Sean Dwyer, proprietor of the California Herbal Relief Center on Shaw Avenue. "No one is going to walk away and close up shop. That's just not going to happen."
Last month, Fresno County supervisors gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would force the roughly 15 dispensaries in the unincorporated county to shut down. The regulation, which requires a second vote before becoming law, bars the retail sale of medical marijuana and confines cultivation to a handful of indoor, industrial sites.
Supervisors claim the ordinance is needed to reduce the crime and drug abuse they say follows dispensaries. Advocates of marijuana, however, say the regulation flies in the face of state law, which allows the drug to be grown and used for medical purposes. Should the ordinance pass, several dispensaries are planning to mobilize clients for signature gathering in an effort to repeal it.
Slightly more than 20,000 signatures would have to be collected before the ordinance takes effect in September to suspend it and force supervisors to reconsider, according to elections officials. If supervisors still press ahead, the repeal question would be put to voters in an upcoming election.
Fresno attorney Brenda Linder, who represents four local dispensaries, says a court battle also is imminent.
"This ordinance violates the law more than any I've seen in the state," she said. "We will be attacking all the provisions we find inappropriate or illegal."
Linder takes issue with the county's intent to prohibit outdoor growing, which she says the county can't legally do, as well as proposed restrictions on indoor growing that she says are so limiting they would allow few operations.
"I believe this is a de facto ban," she said.
Medical marijuana patients, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what they'll do next. The dispensaries, under the pending ordinance, would be required to close within six months.
"I would have to search for another venue," said Merced resident Verlyn Doane, who currently gets medicine from the California Herbal Relief Center."I might wind up in Visalia again, which is a long drive, and with gas prices going up, that really makes it expensive."
Doane uses marijuana to treat depression.
"I've struggled with this for 30 years, trying to raise a family. It makes life a lot dimmer," Doane said. "The marijuana helps me function during the day. I just can't understand people not wanting other people to have pain relief."
While most county supervisors acknowledge medical pot's benefits, they say its problems are too great.
"I have total sympathy for people who feel like using marijuana helps them," said Supervisor Debbie Poochigian. "But unfortunately the abusers have thrown the legitimate users under the bus."
Dispensaries in Tarpey Village and Friant, Poochigian said, have exposed issues of recreational use, people driving under the influence and late-night loitering.
While the Board of Supervisors last month unanimously supported the pending ordinance, a number of things have changed that could affect Tuesday's vote.
The cities of Selma and Fowler have expressed concern about the law because it would allow marijuana to be grown along their city limits. City officials have asked to be included in decisions about who is allowed to grow near them, a request that supervisors could add to the ordinance.
Changes to the ordinance would require additional approvals by supervisors. The board, however, also could choose to pass the current ordinance and make changes later.
Another difference in the upcoming vote will be the presence of Supervisor Susan Anderson, who was out last month because of a death in the family.
Anderson says the proposal, as currently written, is too restrictive.
"I don't think it's thought out well. I do think we need an ordinance, but I think we need something more practical," she said.
The law should allow dispensaries to exist under certain conditions, such as outside residential neighborhoods, Anderson said, adding that an outright ban simply won't work.
"In six months, they're still going to be here," she said. "There's too much money to be made and there's too much demand."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fresnobee.com
Author: Kurtis Alexander
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: The Fresno Bee
Website: Fresno supes likely to OK pot-dispensary ban
Advocates of the drug are preparing to launch a signature drive to overturn the ban after Tuesday's Board of Supervisors' meeting. Local dispensary owners already are vowing legal action to block the law.
"We're not backing down from this fight," said Sean Dwyer, proprietor of the California Herbal Relief Center on Shaw Avenue. "No one is going to walk away and close up shop. That's just not going to happen."
Last month, Fresno County supervisors gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would force the roughly 15 dispensaries in the unincorporated county to shut down. The regulation, which requires a second vote before becoming law, bars the retail sale of medical marijuana and confines cultivation to a handful of indoor, industrial sites.
Supervisors claim the ordinance is needed to reduce the crime and drug abuse they say follows dispensaries. Advocates of marijuana, however, say the regulation flies in the face of state law, which allows the drug to be grown and used for medical purposes. Should the ordinance pass, several dispensaries are planning to mobilize clients for signature gathering in an effort to repeal it.
Slightly more than 20,000 signatures would have to be collected before the ordinance takes effect in September to suspend it and force supervisors to reconsider, according to elections officials. If supervisors still press ahead, the repeal question would be put to voters in an upcoming election.
Fresno attorney Brenda Linder, who represents four local dispensaries, says a court battle also is imminent.
"This ordinance violates the law more than any I've seen in the state," she said. "We will be attacking all the provisions we find inappropriate or illegal."
Linder takes issue with the county's intent to prohibit outdoor growing, which she says the county can't legally do, as well as proposed restrictions on indoor growing that she says are so limiting they would allow few operations.
"I believe this is a de facto ban," she said.
Medical marijuana patients, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what they'll do next. The dispensaries, under the pending ordinance, would be required to close within six months.
"I would have to search for another venue," said Merced resident Verlyn Doane, who currently gets medicine from the California Herbal Relief Center."I might wind up in Visalia again, which is a long drive, and with gas prices going up, that really makes it expensive."
Doane uses marijuana to treat depression.
"I've struggled with this for 30 years, trying to raise a family. It makes life a lot dimmer," Doane said. "The marijuana helps me function during the day. I just can't understand people not wanting other people to have pain relief."
While most county supervisors acknowledge medical pot's benefits, they say its problems are too great.
"I have total sympathy for people who feel like using marijuana helps them," said Supervisor Debbie Poochigian. "But unfortunately the abusers have thrown the legitimate users under the bus."
Dispensaries in Tarpey Village and Friant, Poochigian said, have exposed issues of recreational use, people driving under the influence and late-night loitering.
While the Board of Supervisors last month unanimously supported the pending ordinance, a number of things have changed that could affect Tuesday's vote.
The cities of Selma and Fowler have expressed concern about the law because it would allow marijuana to be grown along their city limits. City officials have asked to be included in decisions about who is allowed to grow near them, a request that supervisors could add to the ordinance.
Changes to the ordinance would require additional approvals by supervisors. The board, however, also could choose to pass the current ordinance and make changes later.
Another difference in the upcoming vote will be the presence of Supervisor Susan Anderson, who was out last month because of a death in the family.
Anderson says the proposal, as currently written, is too restrictive.
"I don't think it's thought out well. I do think we need an ordinance, but I think we need something more practical," she said.
The law should allow dispensaries to exist under certain conditions, such as outside residential neighborhoods, Anderson said, adding that an outright ban simply won't work.
"In six months, they're still going to be here," she said. "There's too much money to be made and there's too much demand."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fresnobee.com
Author: Kurtis Alexander
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: The Fresno Bee
Website: Fresno supes likely to OK pot-dispensary ban
