Jacob Bell
New Member
SAN BERNARDINO - The debate over medical marijuana facilities grew heated Thursday morning at the meeting of the San Bernardino County Planning Commission, which was set to vote in the afternoon on a staff proposal to ban dispensaries in unincorporated areas.
Outside the county government center shortly before the hearing, 30 to 60 advocates rallied in support of “safe access” to medical marijuana, carrying signs reading, “Pills kill,” “Collectives, not street drugs” and “Marijuana = medicine.”
The proposed ordinance bans dispensaries, including what some patients refer to as collectives, in unincorporated areas and limits personal medical marijuana growing to indoors only. Limited exceptions might apply to state-run providers.
As the hearing began, Planning Commission Chairwoman Nan Rider announced that 70 speaker cards had been filed on the medical marijuana issue, meaning it could take more than three hours to get through the public comment period.
Several anti-drug proponents blasted dispensaries, arguing the facilities increase crime, blight and problems in surrounding neighborhoods and are widely abused by young adults.
Multiple speakers spoke against a Sky Forest dispensary they said was near a school bus stop, and cited concerns over abuse and young-adult patients picking up marijuana to smoke with friends in abandoned lots and fields.
Medical marijuana advocates fired back that county-cited research against dispensaries was politically motivated and unreliable. They said the proposed ordinance would violate their rights to access medical marijuana as legitimate patients with a doctor’s recommendation under state law. Their general sentiment: “Regulate, don’t ban.”
At least two attorneys challenged the legality of the ban. They noted San Bernardino and San Diego counties had for years resisted issuing medical marijuana cards until the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their argument that they didn’t have to follow the state law because marijuana use of any kind remains illegal under federal law. California voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana, in 1996.
County spokesman David Wert said staff is recommending the restrictive ordinance in part to prevent unincorporated areas from becoming a “dumping ground” for dispensaries, as 23 of the 24 cities countywide have already implemented bans or moratoriums.
Apple Valley, Adelanto, Victorville and Hesperia have all issued such prohibitions on dispensaries.
If the Planning Commission approves the ordinance, the county Board of Supervisors will decide whether to make the ordinance county policy at a March 1 meeting.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: vvdailypress.com
Author: Natasha Lindstrom
Contact: Contact The Daily Press
Copyright: Freedom Communications
Website: Pot debate heats up at S.B. County planning meeting
Outside the county government center shortly before the hearing, 30 to 60 advocates rallied in support of “safe access” to medical marijuana, carrying signs reading, “Pills kill,” “Collectives, not street drugs” and “Marijuana = medicine.”
The proposed ordinance bans dispensaries, including what some patients refer to as collectives, in unincorporated areas and limits personal medical marijuana growing to indoors only. Limited exceptions might apply to state-run providers.
As the hearing began, Planning Commission Chairwoman Nan Rider announced that 70 speaker cards had been filed on the medical marijuana issue, meaning it could take more than three hours to get through the public comment period.
Several anti-drug proponents blasted dispensaries, arguing the facilities increase crime, blight and problems in surrounding neighborhoods and are widely abused by young adults.
Multiple speakers spoke against a Sky Forest dispensary they said was near a school bus stop, and cited concerns over abuse and young-adult patients picking up marijuana to smoke with friends in abandoned lots and fields.
Medical marijuana advocates fired back that county-cited research against dispensaries was politically motivated and unreliable. They said the proposed ordinance would violate their rights to access medical marijuana as legitimate patients with a doctor’s recommendation under state law. Their general sentiment: “Regulate, don’t ban.”
At least two attorneys challenged the legality of the ban. They noted San Bernardino and San Diego counties had for years resisted issuing medical marijuana cards until the U.S. Supreme Court rejected their argument that they didn’t have to follow the state law because marijuana use of any kind remains illegal under federal law. California voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana, in 1996.
County spokesman David Wert said staff is recommending the restrictive ordinance in part to prevent unincorporated areas from becoming a “dumping ground” for dispensaries, as 23 of the 24 cities countywide have already implemented bans or moratoriums.
Apple Valley, Adelanto, Victorville and Hesperia have all issued such prohibitions on dispensaries.
If the Planning Commission approves the ordinance, the county Board of Supervisors will decide whether to make the ordinance county policy at a March 1 meeting.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: vvdailypress.com
Author: Natasha Lindstrom
Contact: Contact The Daily Press
Copyright: Freedom Communications
Website: Pot debate heats up at S.B. County planning meeting
