Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/local_government/story/ 13073686p-13918952c.html Copyright: 2005 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Note: Does not publish letters from outside its circulation area. Author: Jennifer K. Morita, Bee Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Cited: Gonzales v. Raich ( www.angeljustice.org/ ) Cited: Drug Enforcement Administration ( www.dea.gov ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) ROSEVILLE STUBS OUT ITS MEDICAL POT LAW Council Cites Supreme Court Decision On Federal Supremacy. Taking its cue from the highest court in the nation, the Roseville City Council terminated a local law Wednesday night that allowed medical marijuana shops to operate in some parts of town. "The ruling (by the U.S. Supreme Court) was clear which law prevails," Councilman Jim Gray said. "We all swore to uphold the laws of the state of California and the United States of America." Roseville is the first city in the region to repeal an ordinance regulating medical marijuana shops after last week's top-court decision. The court ruled that federal authorities can prosecute pot users in California - or other states with similar laws - on federal charges, despite the voter-approved initiative that legalized the use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The only marijuana shop that has operated in Roseville shut down after a federal raid last fall. The city's legal concern, now that its regulatory ordinance has been overturned by the council, is that other pot clubs may try to open with just a standard business license. "What we do know now is that anyone in possession of marijuana in California is still subject to prosecution by federal authorities," City Attorney Mark Doane said. "Given the state of affairs, it would be an anomaly to have an ordinance that implicitly allows the dispersal of marijuana." Doane added that he'll return to the council soon with a recommendation to ban pot shops entirely. But several patient advocates appealed to the council to keep the ordinance in place. "To take any act that causes sick, dying and desperate people any more pain is an outrageous act," Loomis resident Rosemary Roberts said. "Many cities are watching what happens here tonight. I'm asking you to fight the good fight. Stand for the rights of the sick citizens who are depending on your help and your compassion." Ryan Landers, California director of the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, told the council that he depends on marijuana to control nausea and keep down the handful of pills he has to take for full-blown AIDs. "You are not bound tonight to take any action in accordance with federal laws," Landers said. "What you'll be forcing people to do is drive to the Bay Area for their medication, or go to illegal street dealers. "There are no clubs here in Roseville now. Where's the harm in letting this stand?" Compassionate Coalition representative Nathan Sands argued that Roseville is compelled to follow state laws before federal ones, and said California cities that enacted similar ordinances have not faced any legal challenges. "Before you had this ordinance, anybody could open a dispensary anywhere," Sands said. Since the court's ruling, officials in other Sacramento area cities said they'll be taking another look at their pot shop policies. As more medical marijuana clubs opened dispensaries throughout California following voter approval in 1996, cities and counties scrambled to come up with guidelines for them. In the Sacramento region, Roseville, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights and Davis opted to regulate medical marijuana shops. Rancho Cordova and Galt put temporary moratoriums on pot shops while officials, who were watching the Supreme Court case, tried to craft regulations. The Placer County cities of Rocklin and Lincoln decided to prohibit dispensaries entirely. Roseville passed its ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries in May 2004, four months after Richard Marino opened Capitol Compassionate Care with a standard business license. When other groups began inquiring about opening dispensaries in Roseville, the council unanimously approved the ordinance that allowed such shops only in some commercial and industrial areas. The ordinance also required special permits, limited business hours and prohibited the use or sale of any drug paraphernalia. Doane told the council that if the ordinance stayed in place, a new dispensary could open in Roseville and promptly get shut down by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. "What we're trying to do is not put you in that situation," he said. Marino's shop was raided by the DEA last September and no other dispensaries have opened in Roseville.