Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
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)
Note: Item appears in the Bee's Roseville Community News regional edition
Cited:  Americans for Safe Access  (www.SafeAccessNow.org)

ROSEVILLE SET TO BAN POT SHOPS

Some Medical Marijuana Advocates Say Proposal Will Violate State Law

Pot shops soon will be prohibited from operating anywhere in the city 
of Roseville, under a new ordinance that some medical marijuana 
advocates say violates state law.

The Roseville City Council last week unanimously approved the first 
reading of a new law permanently banning medical marijuana dispensaries.

Other California communities, including nearby Rocklin and Lincoln, 
have similar bans.

"Other cities around here have done it, and I think people in Placer 
County, which is a conservative community, don't want (marijuana 
dispensaries)," Roseville City Councilman F.C. "Rocky" Rockholm said. 
"That's what the constituents are telling me."

Leaders with Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access, however, claim 
such ordinances conflict with state law, because they restrict safe 
and legal access to medical marijuana.

"If you cut off the means to allow collectives and cooperatives from 
establishing, by extension you're cutting off patients' safe access 
to medicine," Kris Hermes, legal campaign director for the 
organization, said this week.

Americans for Safe Access recently filed a lawsuit against the city 
of Fresno challenging its restrictions on medical marijuana 
dispensing collectives.

Hermes said the nationwide coalition is considering filing suits in 
other California cities with similar bans or restrictive laws, 
including Susanville and Roseville.

"We're considering our options," Hermes said. "There are other cities 
that are currently considering permanent bans, so there may be even 
more options with which to take legal action."

Roseville City Attorney Mark Doane could not be reached for comment this week.

Mayor Gina Garbolino, however, said the council was taking its cue 
from last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In its decision, the court stated that federal authorities can 
prosecute medicinal pot users in states such as California - where it 
is legal to use marijuana for medical purposes - under federal charges.

"I feel we did what we had to do in light of the Supreme Court 
ruling," Garbolino said. "What comes what may, and we'll deal with it 
at that time."

A week after the ruling was handed down, the Roseville council 
rescinded an ordinance that regulated dispensaries, allowing them to 
open in some parts of the city.

At the time, City Attorney Doane told council members that the court 
ruled the federal Controlled Substances Act applied to purely local 
use of home-grown marijuana.

"What we do know is anyone who is in possession of marijuana in 
California, for whatever reason in whatever amount, is still subject 
to prosecution by federal authorities," he said.

In advising the council last month, Doane said an ordinance 
regulating dispensaries implicitly allows the use of marijuana.

Rockholm said the court ruling made it clear that marijuana 
dispensaries are against federal law.

"I don't want to see them in Roseville," he said. "I think if 
(Americans for Safe Access) really wants to help people, they need to 
work with the federal government to craft a way to dispense medical 
marijuana through pharmacies legally, so it can be controlled."

A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for Wednesday. If 
approved, it will go into effect 30 days later.
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MAP posted-by: Beth