Sebastopol officials are considering regulation of "medical cannabis nurseries," a proposal that one advocate says would bring marijuana cultivation for ill people "out of the shadows."
But the police chief has voiced "grave concerns" that such an operation would attract armed thieves.
While there are no specific proposals, city officials said advocates have proposed nurseries growing thousands of plants and creating 30 to 40 jobs. One suggestion was to use an old apple-packing warehouse near the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
Police Chief Jeff Weaver said he worries for the safety of the public, his police officers and those tending the marijuana should thieves learn the location of the plants.
"They do steal it," Weaver said. "They steal it at gunpoint."
But Robert Jacob, executive director of a nonprofit group that runs the town's medical marijuana dispensary, said city regulations could ease concerns and help the growers "come out of the shadows and into the light."
Such an operation could pay wages to patient-gardeners and provide them health care benefits. Also, it could include what Jacob has described as "state-of-the art security and product tracking."
"The point is that it makes it much safer," said Jacob, who heads Sebastopol's Peace in Medicine Healing Center. He has worked with former Sebastopol Mayor Craig Litwin to propose language for a draft law.
Two city council members, Linda Kelley and Guy Wilson, met Thursday with the city attorney to discuss a possible nursery ordinance.
The council voted Tuesday to continue a moratorium instituted last month that prohibits some cannabis nurseries while allowing patients with a doctors' recommendation to keep growing their own plants.
City officials said the moratorium was needed because Jacob had expressed interest in encouraging such nurseries, including his written suggestion that such an operation could "bring in an estimated 30-40 industrial jobs to the area."
"We believe that the moratorium clearly applies to that described operation," said City Attorney Larry McLaughlin. Other officials said they were hearing proposals to house a nursey in a former apple packing warehouse on Morris Street, although Jacob characterized that as merely one possibility.
When California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, they provided certain patients and their primary caregivers an exemption from state criminal liability for the possession and cultivation of marijuana. However, such patients still can run afoul of federal law.
In the case of a marijuan nursery, state law requires that the gardeners at such an operation would have to be cannabis patients or their "primary caregivers." And the nursery's landowner would run a risk that federal agents might permanently seize the property for violating U.S. drug laws.
Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based advocacy group, estimates 300,000 Californians may be using marijuana for medical purposes. Some grow their own under state rules that allow each patient to possess no more than 6 mature or 12 immature plants. Sonoma County's guidelines allow up to 30 plants a patient.
Other patients acquire cannabis at one of the more than 500 dispensaries that the group estimates operate around the state.
State law forbids for-profit operations in either the selling or distribution of medical pot. Instead, any plants are to be grown by patients or caregivers and any exchanges of the drug are to be tied to non-profit collectives or cooperatives of patients.
Further, courts don't allow someone to become a primary caregiver simply by supplying patients with pot. Last month the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled against a dispensary owner in Palm Desert who argued that he was caregiver to those who came to his office. A spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said prosecutors will pursue charges against Stacy Robert Hochanadel for operating a business that sells marijuana.
Kris Hermes, a spokesman with Americans for Safe Access, acknowledged cultivation is "probably the one largest gray area" for medical marijuana.
Wilson said he wants to understand what can be done within the law that also would enjoy community support.
"It's a complex subject, legally complex," Wilson said. "I'm a lawyer and I don't pretend to understand it fully."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Press Democrat
Author: ROBERT DIGITALE
Contact: The Press Democrat
Copyright: 2009 PressDemocrat.com
Website: Sebastopol Weighing Medical Pot Nurseries
But the police chief has voiced "grave concerns" that such an operation would attract armed thieves.
While there are no specific proposals, city officials said advocates have proposed nurseries growing thousands of plants and creating 30 to 40 jobs. One suggestion was to use an old apple-packing warehouse near the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
Police Chief Jeff Weaver said he worries for the safety of the public, his police officers and those tending the marijuana should thieves learn the location of the plants.
"They do steal it," Weaver said. "They steal it at gunpoint."
But Robert Jacob, executive director of a nonprofit group that runs the town's medical marijuana dispensary, said city regulations could ease concerns and help the growers "come out of the shadows and into the light."
Such an operation could pay wages to patient-gardeners and provide them health care benefits. Also, it could include what Jacob has described as "state-of-the art security and product tracking."
"The point is that it makes it much safer," said Jacob, who heads Sebastopol's Peace in Medicine Healing Center. He has worked with former Sebastopol Mayor Craig Litwin to propose language for a draft law.
Two city council members, Linda Kelley and Guy Wilson, met Thursday with the city attorney to discuss a possible nursery ordinance.
The council voted Tuesday to continue a moratorium instituted last month that prohibits some cannabis nurseries while allowing patients with a doctors' recommendation to keep growing their own plants.
City officials said the moratorium was needed because Jacob had expressed interest in encouraging such nurseries, including his written suggestion that such an operation could "bring in an estimated 30-40 industrial jobs to the area."
"We believe that the moratorium clearly applies to that described operation," said City Attorney Larry McLaughlin. Other officials said they were hearing proposals to house a nursey in a former apple packing warehouse on Morris Street, although Jacob characterized that as merely one possibility.
When California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, they provided certain patients and their primary caregivers an exemption from state criminal liability for the possession and cultivation of marijuana. However, such patients still can run afoul of federal law.
In the case of a marijuan nursery, state law requires that the gardeners at such an operation would have to be cannabis patients or their "primary caregivers." And the nursery's landowner would run a risk that federal agents might permanently seize the property for violating U.S. drug laws.
Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based advocacy group, estimates 300,000 Californians may be using marijuana for medical purposes. Some grow their own under state rules that allow each patient to possess no more than 6 mature or 12 immature plants. Sonoma County's guidelines allow up to 30 plants a patient.
Other patients acquire cannabis at one of the more than 500 dispensaries that the group estimates operate around the state.
State law forbids for-profit operations in either the selling or distribution of medical pot. Instead, any plants are to be grown by patients or caregivers and any exchanges of the drug are to be tied to non-profit collectives or cooperatives of patients.
Further, courts don't allow someone to become a primary caregiver simply by supplying patients with pot. Last month the state's 4th District Court of Appeal ruled against a dispensary owner in Palm Desert who argued that he was caregiver to those who came to his office. A spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office said prosecutors will pursue charges against Stacy Robert Hochanadel for operating a business that sells marijuana.
Kris Hermes, a spokesman with Americans for Safe Access, acknowledged cultivation is "probably the one largest gray area" for medical marijuana.
Wilson said he wants to understand what can be done within the law that also would enjoy community support.
"It's a complex subject, legally complex," Wilson said. "I'm a lawyer and I don't pretend to understand it fully."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Press Democrat
Author: ROBERT DIGITALE
Contact: The Press Democrat
Copyright: 2009 PressDemocrat.com
Website: Sebastopol Weighing Medical Pot Nurseries
