Pubdate: Wed, 18 Oct 2006
Source: Desert Sun, The (Palm Springs, CA)
Copyright: 2006 The Desert Sun
Contact: http://www.thedesertsun.com/opinion/lettersubmitter.shtml
Website: http://www.thedesertsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1112
Author: K Kaufmann
Note: Does not accept LTEs from outside circulation area.

CVAG COMMITTEE HEARS MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE

Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask may  oppose medical 
marijuana dispensaries, but Palm Desert  has renewed the business 
license for CannaHelp, the  dispensary that has been on El Paseo for one year.

The ongoing dispensary debate rolled into the Public  Safety 
Committee of the Coachella Valley Association of  Governments today 
as Kevin Ruddy, the county's chief  deputy district attorney, 
answered questions about the  white paper Trask released last month.

While state law allows qualified patients to possess  and grow 
marijuana for medical use, Ruddy said,  "nowhere in the law does code 
allow for what is called  a dispensary. That's the bottom line."

Ruddy said he could not comment on whether CannaHelp,  which is run 
as a patient collective, would be  considered legal under the white 
paper. State law,  passed 10 years ago, does allow for collectives 
and cooperatives to grow medical marijuana.

Any possession, cultivation or sale of marijuana is  illegal under 
federal law. The Riverside County Board  of Supervisors voted earlier 
this month to ban  dispensaries in unincorporated areas like Bermuda 
Dunes  and Sky Valley.

Capt. Steve Thetford, chief of the Palm Desert Police  Department, 
said that CannaHelp has not been "a  significant threat to public safety."

But, he said, the dispensary does have an indirect  impact, since 
officers must occasionally spend time  verifying that customers have 
valid letters of  recommendation.

Palm Desert Councilman Robert A. Spiegel, who is also  chair of the 
Public Safety Committee, did not foresee  any action by the committee 
or CVAG either supporting  or opposing dispensaries. Ruddy's 
presentation was  intended as informational only, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine