Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Riverside voters are about to decide whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, but patients with doctors' recommendations already have dozens of options to schedule a delivery — even though it's illegal.
While Measure A would allow up to 10 storefront dispensaries that could also deliver, the outcome of the June 2 election seems unlikely to affect mobile dispensaries that operate across Southern California, including in Riverside.
Like most Inland cities, Riverside bans storefront medical marijuana dispensaries. The city is also among a smaller number that prohibit marijuana delivery, but police devote few resources to stopping them.
Measure A proponents say delivery is an important resource for some people who can't get to a dispensary to obtain the medicine they need.
"(For) people that are so sick that they can't leave their house to go get it, then the compassionate thing to do is to deliver it to them," said Doree Rizzo, a former Riverside dispensary operator who helped draft Measure A
.
Opponents argue that allowing marijuana delivery creates a risk of crime. They also say it's harder to monitor whether mobile dispensaries are following the rules, including who gets their hands on drugs.
"The primary problem that we anticipate is there's a danger of robberies and assaults to get either the cash or the product," Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said.
Regardless of whether the measure passes, people on both sides of the issue agree that while many cities have banned or allowed medical marijuana dispensaries, their rules largely ignore delivery. When such rules do exist, they're hard to enforce.
"We're very concerned that delivery systems can be subject to abuse," said Doug Holland, city attorney in Palm Springs, which permits four dispensaries.
"We have no idea what they're doing, we have no idea that everything is consistent with law. There's no way for us to review that or to monitor that."
ARE RULES CLEAR?
Measure A would set up a system for Riverside to grant permits for up to 10 dispensaries that could open in the city's commercial and industrial zones, at least 1,000 feet from schools and other dispensaries.
The facilities would be non-profit organizations serving people with doctor recommendations for medical marijuana. In 10 pages of rules for how the facilities would operate, one paragraph discusses deliveries. It states that they can be offered only by a "recognized medical marijuana provider association" to its members.
Jason Thompson, a Riverside attorney who helped write Measure A, said the delivery wording applies only to the potential 10 dispensaries and would not "on a wholesale basis undo the ban on mobile dispensaries."
But city officials, who oppose the measure, said it's not clear whether the initiative would allow delivery-only outfits to open, or whether providers outside the city could legally make deliveries in Riverside.
"I believe those are all questions that, if Measure A passes, we'll have to take a look at," Deputy City Attorney Neil Okazaki said.
Plenty of mobile dispensaries already operate in the region.*edit*
Diaz said he has no reason to doubt the website's listings, but doesn't know whether deliveries are taking place in Riverside. Marijuana enforcement isn't a top priority unless someone complains, he said, adding, "We're not scouring the Internet trying to find mobile marijuana dispensaries."
Details of mobile dispensary operations and the opinions of operators are hard to determine.
Representatives of 10 Inland delivery services with online ads did not respond to phone or e-mail messages. Two declined to comment.
Riverside is not alone in banning mobile dispensaries.
Cities that forbid marijuana delivery include some that allow storefront dispensaries, such as Santa Ana, and others that ban all marijuana facilities, including Anaheim and Canyon Lake.
In the Riverside County desert, Cathedral City and Palm Springs allow deliveries from the few brick-and-mortar dispensaries those cities permit — three in Cathedral City and four in Palm Springs.
Officials in several cities with delivery bans shared the crime concerns noted by Riverside's police chief.
Los Angeles Police Detective Vince Bancroft, who has investigated more than 100 cases involving marijuana dispensaries, said it's hard to know how much crime delivery services experience because. Because the city deems their business illegal, they may not report it, he said.
Bancroft and officials from several cities, including Riverside, said they haven't received public complaints about marijuana deliveries.
RARELY REGULATED
Nor have complaints arisen in Rancho Mirage, where storefront dispensaries are banned but the city has issued 13 business licenses for marijuana delivery.
Rancho Mirage City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said the city also offers $25 travel subsidies for residents who patronize dispensaries in other cities. That way, people can get their medicine, and there are no problems with people smoking marijuana or loitering in the city's business districts, he said.
Council members are "trying to balance the concerns of local businesses and their interest in compassion," Quintanilla said.
But he and others connected to the issue said medical marijuana delivery services are largely unregulated, under-the-radar, operations.
Statewide, about 50 cities and counties permit medical marijuana dispensaries and about 200 jurisdictions ban them, but it's unclear how many have a policy on delivery, said Don Duncan, California director of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group.
"Most local ordinances are silent on delivery services," Duncan said. "I think most local regulators weren't thinking about them when they sat down to write their ordinances."
His group wants state legislators to create a licensing system and rules for delivery services.
"Let's bring it into the sunlight and regulate it the same way we regulate other commercial activity," he said.
Thompson, the Measure A attorney, said he thinks if the city initiative passes it will reduce the popularity of unregulated, "fly-by-night" delivery services.
"If anything, having legitimate delivery services locally is just going to encourage people to use the licensed shops that have oversight and accountability," he said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: RIVERSIDE: Pot delivery thrives despite ban - Press Enterprise
Author: Alicia Robinson
Contact: arobinson@pe.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Press Enterprise : Riverside County California News, Sports and Entertainment
While Measure A would allow up to 10 storefront dispensaries that could also deliver, the outcome of the June 2 election seems unlikely to affect mobile dispensaries that operate across Southern California, including in Riverside.
Like most Inland cities, Riverside bans storefront medical marijuana dispensaries. The city is also among a smaller number that prohibit marijuana delivery, but police devote few resources to stopping them.
Measure A proponents say delivery is an important resource for some people who can't get to a dispensary to obtain the medicine they need.
"(For) people that are so sick that they can't leave their house to go get it, then the compassionate thing to do is to deliver it to them," said Doree Rizzo, a former Riverside dispensary operator who helped draft Measure A
.
Opponents argue that allowing marijuana delivery creates a risk of crime. They also say it's harder to monitor whether mobile dispensaries are following the rules, including who gets their hands on drugs.
"The primary problem that we anticipate is there's a danger of robberies and assaults to get either the cash or the product," Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said.
Regardless of whether the measure passes, people on both sides of the issue agree that while many cities have banned or allowed medical marijuana dispensaries, their rules largely ignore delivery. When such rules do exist, they're hard to enforce.
"We're very concerned that delivery systems can be subject to abuse," said Doug Holland, city attorney in Palm Springs, which permits four dispensaries.
"We have no idea what they're doing, we have no idea that everything is consistent with law. There's no way for us to review that or to monitor that."
ARE RULES CLEAR?
Measure A would set up a system for Riverside to grant permits for up to 10 dispensaries that could open in the city's commercial and industrial zones, at least 1,000 feet from schools and other dispensaries.
The facilities would be non-profit organizations serving people with doctor recommendations for medical marijuana. In 10 pages of rules for how the facilities would operate, one paragraph discusses deliveries. It states that they can be offered only by a "recognized medical marijuana provider association" to its members.
Jason Thompson, a Riverside attorney who helped write Measure A, said the delivery wording applies only to the potential 10 dispensaries and would not "on a wholesale basis undo the ban on mobile dispensaries."
But city officials, who oppose the measure, said it's not clear whether the initiative would allow delivery-only outfits to open, or whether providers outside the city could legally make deliveries in Riverside.
"I believe those are all questions that, if Measure A passes, we'll have to take a look at," Deputy City Attorney Neil Okazaki said.
Plenty of mobile dispensaries already operate in the region.*edit*
Diaz said he has no reason to doubt the website's listings, but doesn't know whether deliveries are taking place in Riverside. Marijuana enforcement isn't a top priority unless someone complains, he said, adding, "We're not scouring the Internet trying to find mobile marijuana dispensaries."
Details of mobile dispensary operations and the opinions of operators are hard to determine.
Representatives of 10 Inland delivery services with online ads did not respond to phone or e-mail messages. Two declined to comment.
Riverside is not alone in banning mobile dispensaries.
Cities that forbid marijuana delivery include some that allow storefront dispensaries, such as Santa Ana, and others that ban all marijuana facilities, including Anaheim and Canyon Lake.
In the Riverside County desert, Cathedral City and Palm Springs allow deliveries from the few brick-and-mortar dispensaries those cities permit — three in Cathedral City and four in Palm Springs.
Officials in several cities with delivery bans shared the crime concerns noted by Riverside's police chief.
Los Angeles Police Detective Vince Bancroft, who has investigated more than 100 cases involving marijuana dispensaries, said it's hard to know how much crime delivery services experience because. Because the city deems their business illegal, they may not report it, he said.
Bancroft and officials from several cities, including Riverside, said they haven't received public complaints about marijuana deliveries.
RARELY REGULATED
Nor have complaints arisen in Rancho Mirage, where storefront dispensaries are banned but the city has issued 13 business licenses for marijuana delivery.
Rancho Mirage City Attorney Steve Quintanilla said the city also offers $25 travel subsidies for residents who patronize dispensaries in other cities. That way, people can get their medicine, and there are no problems with people smoking marijuana or loitering in the city's business districts, he said.
Council members are "trying to balance the concerns of local businesses and their interest in compassion," Quintanilla said.
But he and others connected to the issue said medical marijuana delivery services are largely unregulated, under-the-radar, operations.
Statewide, about 50 cities and counties permit medical marijuana dispensaries and about 200 jurisdictions ban them, but it's unclear how many have a policy on delivery, said Don Duncan, California director of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group.
"Most local ordinances are silent on delivery services," Duncan said. "I think most local regulators weren't thinking about them when they sat down to write their ordinances."
His group wants state legislators to create a licensing system and rules for delivery services.
"Let's bring it into the sunlight and regulate it the same way we regulate other commercial activity," he said.
Thompson, the Measure A attorney, said he thinks if the city initiative passes it will reduce the popularity of unregulated, "fly-by-night" delivery services.
"If anything, having legitimate delivery services locally is just going to encourage people to use the licensed shops that have oversight and accountability," he said.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: RIVERSIDE: Pot delivery thrives despite ban - Press Enterprise
Author: Alicia Robinson
Contact: arobinson@pe.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Press Enterprise : Riverside County California News, Sports and Entertainment
