SR Backs Medical Pot Law

[SirBlazinBowl]

Council Splits 3-2 to Allow Two Dispensaries Serving Customers in City
Santa Rosa will allow medical marijuana dispensaries, but only two serving no more than 500 customers each. That's what the City Council said Tuesday in tentatively approving an ordinance that will resolve some questions about supplying pot to people with a doctor's recommendation.

Mayor Jane Bender, who helped draft the ordinance, said the council would consider lifting the restrictions after six months. "We've got to go slowly with this to make it work," Bender said. With the decision, reached on a 3-2 vote, Santa Rosa became one of a handful of Bay Area cities regulating cannabis cooperatives, which have emerged since 1996 when California voters approved pot for medical use. The Santa Rosa ordinance, dictating where and when dispensaries may operate, is expected to become a model for Sonoma County and some of its cities, which are considering laws of their own.

Advocates hailed the concept of a regulating dispensaries, but complained the limits in Santa Rosa's measure were too strict and would force many medical users to resort to illegal means to get their pot. "Serving only 500 patients a month will cause patients to flock to the streets," said Teri Worden of Americans for Safe Access, supporters of the state's medical marijuana laws. Advocates say Santa Rosa could have several thousand qualified users and there are hundreds more elsewhere in the county.

Proposition 215, the law approved by voters, allows medical marijuana users and their primary caregivers to grow marijuana though many have turned to dispensaries, which also are commonly referred to as clubs. Councilmen Bob Blanchard and John Sawyer cast dissenting votes, both saying they would prefer an all-out ban. Blanchard said conflicts between state and federal law prevented his support. Under federal law, use or possession of marijuana for any purpose is illegal. Sawyer was concerned that dispensaries could strain law enforcement if customers stream in from other cities. "I'm uncomfortable being a test case for Sonoma County," he said.

Councilmen Mike Martini and Steve Rabinowitsh were absent. Under the ordinance, which comes back to the council for a formal vote in two weeks, the city would license dispensaries through a process that includes fees and criminal background checks for employees. The city would require dispensaries to have security cameras and prohibit smoking on their property.

The dispensaries would not be permitted within 500 feet of youth-oriented facilities, including schools and parks. Licenses could be revoked for a number of violations, including customer conduct. Pot clubs would not be able to re-apply for three years.

Santa Rosa began drafting its ordinance earlier this year when it discovered it had three medical pot dispensaries, including one across the street from City Hall. One has since closed and the operator of a second said the ordinance would shut him down because he's too close to Juilliard Park. Dona Frank, who owns a marijuana club in unincorporated Sonoma County and a record store in Santa Rosa, complained about the criminal background check provision of the city ordinance.

"That you should question my integrity by making me succumb to a criminal background check, I'm offended by that," she said. Neighbors have complained that club operators were selling to people who did not appear to be sick and allowed unruly customers to smoke outside dispensaries and resell pot illegally.

Police have taken seven criminal reports, including burglaries and armed robberies, at the clubs. In one case, a dispensary was held up by a man wielding a shotgun, Lt. Jerry Briggs said.

In April, the city enacted a 45-day moratorium on new clubs, laid down regulations for the existing clubs and formed a panel to write a permanent ordinance.

Eight Sonoma County cities and Ukiah in Mendocino County have enacted temporary bans while they write laws governing pot clubs.

In May, the Board of Supervisors imposed a moratorium in the unincorporated area, where there are two clubs, the only others in Sonoma County.

Newshawk: SirBlazinBowl - [url]420Times.com[url]
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Press Democrat
Contact: letters@pressdemo.com
Website:http://www.pressdemo.com/
Author: Paul Payne