Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
CA - The Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee declined Thursday to take a stand on banning the concept of a medical marijuana dispensary in the Springs.
Some months back, the panel decided that if it were asked to take a stand on an issue that wasn't on the panel's agenda, it would need a unanimous vote. It didn't even get to a vote Thursday as three panel members, during discussion, said they weren't comfortable voting on something that wasn't in the panel's purview. Springs resident Sioux Messinger asked the panel to take a stand against medical marijuana dispensaries in the Springs.
"Having a dispensary will bring a lot of problems," Messinger told the panel. She said once a dispensary is in place, it's hard to get rid of. She pointed out that the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce took a stand against dispensaries and Messinger said she had petitions signed by numerous business owners who were against a medical marijuana dispensary.
While Messinger is against the establishment of a dispensary in the Springs, she's said that there are safer ways patients could get medical marijuana. "There are six delivery services that will bring (medical marijuana) to your front door," she said. "I'm not against that."
Messinger cited numerous studies while asking for the ban. "In the City of Sonoma, former police Chief Paul Day called them a 'magnet for criminal activity,'" she said. She urged the panel to be, "proactive and create a local ban."
With Messinger was current Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett, who said that Sonoma used zoning to keep a dispensary out. "If you're not a pre-approved business, you're not approved," he said. "The city relied on a zoning ordinance that doesn't recognize marijuana dispensaries."
Sackett said that Proposition 215, which allows medical marijuana dispensaries, was written with good intentions, "but it's a bad law."
Dave McCullick, vice president of Sonoma Patient Group, a medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Rosa, said a dispensary provides patients with safe access to medical marijuana.
"We test our medical marijuana. And we're properly licensed," he said. "It makes a community safer. We have guards and security cameras both inside and outside."
McCullick pointed out that Oakland had regulated dispensaries.
And he said that a bank has a better chance of being robbed than a medical marijuana dispensary.
"We haven't had any stickups," he said. "We've had some attempted break-ins. But security is tight."
Friday, though, four gunmen robbed a medical marijuana clinic on Santa Rosa Avenue, just outside the Santa Rosa city limits. Although, the robbery didn't occur at the clinic McCullick is associated with.
He said that a dispensary needs to go in a commercial zone that's easily seen from the street.
"We want to be in Sonoma Valley," McCullick said. And he said his clinic looked at a location on Fremont Drive but decided it was too isolated.
After listening to both sides, during discussion, Boardmember Dave Whiteley said he needed more information before he could make a decision. And fellow Boardmember Ryan Lely said he agreed with Whiteley that he needed more information and that the panel was getting, "into a political question that's beyond our scope."
Boardmember Steve Cox made it a third.
"If someone wants funding to open a clinic, that's a pretty tall hurdle," Cox said. "A dispensary is not in our strategic plan."
And he too said he thought it was a political question that was out of the panel's purview.
With that said, the proposed ban didn't even make it to a motion.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: sonomanews.com
Author: Bill Hoban
Copyright: 2010 THE SONOMA INDEX-TRIBUNE
Contact: > The Sonoma Index-Tribune
Website: RAC declines question on medical pot > The Sonoma Index-Tribune
• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
Some months back, the panel decided that if it were asked to take a stand on an issue that wasn't on the panel's agenda, it would need a unanimous vote. It didn't even get to a vote Thursday as three panel members, during discussion, said they weren't comfortable voting on something that wasn't in the panel's purview. Springs resident Sioux Messinger asked the panel to take a stand against medical marijuana dispensaries in the Springs.
"Having a dispensary will bring a lot of problems," Messinger told the panel. She said once a dispensary is in place, it's hard to get rid of. She pointed out that the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce took a stand against dispensaries and Messinger said she had petitions signed by numerous business owners who were against a medical marijuana dispensary.
While Messinger is against the establishment of a dispensary in the Springs, she's said that there are safer ways patients could get medical marijuana. "There are six delivery services that will bring (medical marijuana) to your front door," she said. "I'm not against that."
Messinger cited numerous studies while asking for the ban. "In the City of Sonoma, former police Chief Paul Day called them a 'magnet for criminal activity,'" she said. She urged the panel to be, "proactive and create a local ban."
With Messinger was current Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett, who said that Sonoma used zoning to keep a dispensary out. "If you're not a pre-approved business, you're not approved," he said. "The city relied on a zoning ordinance that doesn't recognize marijuana dispensaries."
Sackett said that Proposition 215, which allows medical marijuana dispensaries, was written with good intentions, "but it's a bad law."
Dave McCullick, vice president of Sonoma Patient Group, a medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Rosa, said a dispensary provides patients with safe access to medical marijuana.
"We test our medical marijuana. And we're properly licensed," he said. "It makes a community safer. We have guards and security cameras both inside and outside."
McCullick pointed out that Oakland had regulated dispensaries.
And he said that a bank has a better chance of being robbed than a medical marijuana dispensary.
"We haven't had any stickups," he said. "We've had some attempted break-ins. But security is tight."
Friday, though, four gunmen robbed a medical marijuana clinic on Santa Rosa Avenue, just outside the Santa Rosa city limits. Although, the robbery didn't occur at the clinic McCullick is associated with.
He said that a dispensary needs to go in a commercial zone that's easily seen from the street.
"We want to be in Sonoma Valley," McCullick said. And he said his clinic looked at a location on Fremont Drive but decided it was too isolated.
After listening to both sides, during discussion, Boardmember Dave Whiteley said he needed more information before he could make a decision. And fellow Boardmember Ryan Lely said he agreed with Whiteley that he needed more information and that the panel was getting, "into a political question that's beyond our scope."
Boardmember Steve Cox made it a third.
"If someone wants funding to open a clinic, that's a pretty tall hurdle," Cox said. "A dispensary is not in our strategic plan."
And he too said he thought it was a political question that was out of the panel's purview.
With that said, the proposed ban didn't even make it to a motion.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: sonomanews.com
Author: Bill Hoban
Copyright: 2010 THE SONOMA INDEX-TRIBUNE
Contact: > The Sonoma Index-Tribune
Website: RAC declines question on medical pot > The Sonoma Index-Tribune
• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
