US- SF Supervisors Discuss Marijuana Club Regulations

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San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Government Audit and Oversight Committee held its first public hearing today to explore medical marijuana dispensary regulations.

Representatives from the city's health, police and planning departments as well as the city attorney's office advised committee members on current policies and potential policies that could be implemented to regulate the sale of cannabis.

Currently there is a moratorium on new pot clubs. The ban, passed by supervisors on March 29, was not intended to reduce access to medical marijuana, but rather to allow city officials time to draft and adopt regulations addressing zoning, public health, planning and land use, officials said.

"What we have had in San Francisco has been good,'' Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is spearheading the effort, said today. "I am committed to putting forth smart legislation and never to breach the confidentiality of our patients.

This is not going to be a fluid process. It's clumsy and I ask for your patience.''

The city's Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner told supervisors today they have four options for regulating the opening of new pot clubs.

Badiner said the most drastic measure would be to not permit the opening of any more clubs. Or, he said, supervisors could subject new dispensaries to conditional use permits, which would mean the club owners would have to prove that a proposed dispensary was "necessary and desirable.''

A third option would create a law allowing cities or neighbors of proposed clubs to request a hearing in which the burden of proof would be on them and not on the pot-club owner.

The least restrictive regulation, Badiner said, would be to require that residents and business owners located within 150 feet of the proposed dispensary be notified that one would be opening.

Existing clubs could either be grandfathered and operate as non-conforming entities or they too could be subjected to the new regulations, Badiner said.

Most medical marijuana users, advocates and other concerned citizens who addressed committee members today said they supported regulating the dispensaries.

One woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis said today that she believes regulations would help make pot clubs safer, cleaner and more accessible for disabled users.

"They should be regulated for the health and safety of patients and neighbors,'' she said today.

Speaking out against pot club regulations was former San Francisco District Attorney Terrence Hallinan.

"I still think this voluntary model is the best way to go,'' Hallinan said today.

"Strict regulations are not feasible,'' he said.



Source: CBS 5, Bay City Newswire
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