Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
More than 20 years ago, California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.
More than two decades later, Marin's county government remains unable to find an appropriate location that fulfills that measure's promise, one that was supported by 73 percent of Marin's voters.
This sorry crossroads comes after the county, albeit late in coming, spent more than a year drawing up practical planning parameters, focusing on public safety, for possible locations.
Supervisors said they wanted to finally come up with safe and appropriate sites where people who needed marijuana for medical reasons could get it without having to leave the county.
Their efforts took shape in the wake of the closing of a medical marijuana dispensary that operated without problems in Fairfax. That dispensary was closed down during a short-lived federal crackdown that was suspended as voters in more states approved the sale and use of recreational marijuana.
California joined those states last year. Nearly 70 percent of Marin voters endorsed that measure.
But given the local legal hurdles built to prevent the opening of dispensaries, it appears likely that similar zoning restrictions will confront recreational marijuana, with Marin officials and neighbors who support them saying that people who want marijuana, regardless of state laws and local voter support, won't buy any in Marin.
After supervisors crafted and approved a medical marijuana ordinance, its first trial was a failure, building a stage for a charade of a process that cost applicants a lot of time and money and left people who have medical needs for marijuana depending on delivery services, many of which operate without government oversight.
If the Fairfax dispensary reopens, at least it could resume providing the access that was promised in 1996.
Supervisors last year finally adopted strict regulations for the placement and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Ten applicants in the county's process drew local opposition, with neighbors showing up to hearings letting officials know they didn't want them in their neighborhoods.
Unlike many previous efforts to open a legal dispensary in Marin, this time there were supporters for fulfilling the 1996 law, but they were drowned out by residents who didn't want one near their neighborhoods.
Some of those concerns could have been allayed by the county effectively presenting strict safety measures that would have been required and presenting examples from other communities where dispensaries operate today without the problems predicted by local critics.
County staff wound up rejecting all 10 applications, citing either operators' lack of experience and neighborhood opposition. Supervisors, who had crafted the medical marijuana rules, upheld those denials.
Applicants were frustrated, feeling that they had been taken for a political ride by county supervisors.
Supervisors should, at least, refund the $6,000 application fees the applicants paid to begin a costly and time-consuming process that failed in its promised goal – finding appropriate locations across the unincorporated area for dispensaries and fulfilling the 1996 "Compassionate Use Act."
Now, supervisors are shifting gear and focusing on limiting county approval to delivery-only dispensaries.
It will be interesting to see how many applicants this process will draw. And whether any of them will be located in Marin.
The result of local political hurdles may set the stage for yet another proposition asking voters, who have already spoken twice on this issue, to clear them away.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marin IJ Editorial: County’s pot law falls short of goal
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Alternet
Website: Marin Independent Journal: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & San Rafael News
More than two decades later, Marin's county government remains unable to find an appropriate location that fulfills that measure's promise, one that was supported by 73 percent of Marin's voters.
This sorry crossroads comes after the county, albeit late in coming, spent more than a year drawing up practical planning parameters, focusing on public safety, for possible locations.
Supervisors said they wanted to finally come up with safe and appropriate sites where people who needed marijuana for medical reasons could get it without having to leave the county.
Their efforts took shape in the wake of the closing of a medical marijuana dispensary that operated without problems in Fairfax. That dispensary was closed down during a short-lived federal crackdown that was suspended as voters in more states approved the sale and use of recreational marijuana.
California joined those states last year. Nearly 70 percent of Marin voters endorsed that measure.
But given the local legal hurdles built to prevent the opening of dispensaries, it appears likely that similar zoning restrictions will confront recreational marijuana, with Marin officials and neighbors who support them saying that people who want marijuana, regardless of state laws and local voter support, won't buy any in Marin.
After supervisors crafted and approved a medical marijuana ordinance, its first trial was a failure, building a stage for a charade of a process that cost applicants a lot of time and money and left people who have medical needs for marijuana depending on delivery services, many of which operate without government oversight.
If the Fairfax dispensary reopens, at least it could resume providing the access that was promised in 1996.
Supervisors last year finally adopted strict regulations for the placement and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Ten applicants in the county's process drew local opposition, with neighbors showing up to hearings letting officials know they didn't want them in their neighborhoods.
Unlike many previous efforts to open a legal dispensary in Marin, this time there were supporters for fulfilling the 1996 law, but they were drowned out by residents who didn't want one near their neighborhoods.
Some of those concerns could have been allayed by the county effectively presenting strict safety measures that would have been required and presenting examples from other communities where dispensaries operate today without the problems predicted by local critics.
County staff wound up rejecting all 10 applications, citing either operators' lack of experience and neighborhood opposition. Supervisors, who had crafted the medical marijuana rules, upheld those denials.
Applicants were frustrated, feeling that they had been taken for a political ride by county supervisors.
Supervisors should, at least, refund the $6,000 application fees the applicants paid to begin a costly and time-consuming process that failed in its promised goal – finding appropriate locations across the unincorporated area for dispensaries and fulfilling the 1996 "Compassionate Use Act."
Now, supervisors are shifting gear and focusing on limiting county approval to delivery-only dispensaries.
It will be interesting to see how many applicants this process will draw. And whether any of them will be located in Marin.
The result of local political hurdles may set the stage for yet another proposition asking voters, who have already spoken twice on this issue, to clear them away.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marin IJ Editorial: County’s pot law falls short of goal
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Alternet
Website: Marin Independent Journal: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & San Rafael News
