Jacob Bell
New Member
CALEXICO – City Council here voted 4-1 Tuesday evening to extend a yearlong moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in order to more carefully review factors before deciding to either regulate or ban them.
The moratorium could be ended earlier than one year if the council comes to a decision before then. Mayor Pro Tem Luis Castro cast the dissenting vote.
Concern for a closer look at the issue, due to the uniqueness of the border community, was voiced as a reason for the extended moratorium.
Desert Cannabuds Patient Care Center is a state-licensed medical marijuana mobile unit in the Imperial Valley. It has approximately 80 patients and began operating six days a week in July.
Desert Cannabuds owner and CEO Juan Carlos Robles said every medical marijuana patient needs secure access to the medication. Robles himself is severely handicapped with a muscle disorder and asked his wife to speak for him for this article. He said that medical marijuana has helped him "tremendously" in his life.
"We have a lot of seriously ill patients in the Valley that really need the medication," he said. "It would be a tremendous service for any city council to approve the dispensaries."
Since Valley residents can't get a medical marijuana prescription here, they go to other cities' doctors who then give them the necessary paperwork to receive medical marijuana at the mobile unit, Robles said.
"I think we need to educate ourselves much more on this issue, and I think that we definitely need to consider that we do have unique characteristics in the city of Calexico," Councilwoman Maritza Hurtado said.
News Hawk- Jacob Husky 420 MAGAZINE
Source: ivpressonline.com
Author: Chelcey Adami
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Imperial Valley Press
Website: Calexico City Council extends moritorium on medical marijuana dispensaries
The moratorium could be ended earlier than one year if the council comes to a decision before then. Mayor Pro Tem Luis Castro cast the dissenting vote.
Concern for a closer look at the issue, due to the uniqueness of the border community, was voiced as a reason for the extended moratorium.
Desert Cannabuds Patient Care Center is a state-licensed medical marijuana mobile unit in the Imperial Valley. It has approximately 80 patients and began operating six days a week in July.
Desert Cannabuds owner and CEO Juan Carlos Robles said every medical marijuana patient needs secure access to the medication. Robles himself is severely handicapped with a muscle disorder and asked his wife to speak for him for this article. He said that medical marijuana has helped him "tremendously" in his life.
"We have a lot of seriously ill patients in the Valley that really need the medication," he said. "It would be a tremendous service for any city council to approve the dispensaries."
Since Valley residents can't get a medical marijuana prescription here, they go to other cities' doctors who then give them the necessary paperwork to receive medical marijuana at the mobile unit, Robles said.
"I think we need to educate ourselves much more on this issue, and I think that we definitely need to consider that we do have unique characteristics in the city of Calexico," Councilwoman Maritza Hurtado said.
News Hawk- Jacob Husky 420 MAGAZINE
Source: ivpressonline.com
Author: Chelcey Adami
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Imperial Valley Press
Website: Calexico City Council extends moritorium on medical marijuana dispensaries
