Pubdate: Tue, 9 Oct 2007
Source: Ventura County Star (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  http://www.venturacountystar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/479
Author: Charles Levin
Cited: Oxnard City Council 
http://citycouncil.cityofoxnard.org/Default.aspx?DepartmentID=3
Cited: Safe Access Now http://www.safeaccessnow.net
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

OXNARD EXPECTED TO BAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CENTER

Conflict Between State, Federal Drug Laws Cited

The Oxnard City Council will likely vote to ban medical marijuana 
dispensaries tonight, citing an unresolved legal conflict between 
state and federal laws.

"We have worked to try and figure it out, but I think it is now to 
the point where Oxnard is not big enough to take on the federal 
government," said Councilman Dean Maulhardt, one of two members who 
hoped the city could allow a dispensary.

"I can't support putting Oxnard in the middle of that conflict," 
Maulhardt said Monday.

The conflict Maulhardt refers to is this: In 1996, California voters 
approved the Compassionate Use Act, which allows patients suffering 
from a host of diseases, such as cancer or AIDS, to use marijuana 
with a doctor's recommendation.

In 2003, Sacramento lawmakers followed by adopting a law that 
establishes identification cards for users. Thirty-five of 
California's 58 counties have implemented the program. Ventura County 
is not among them.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal laws against all 
marijuana use take precedence over the state initiative.

"The contradiction between the state and federal laws is the problem 
for us, and we're not ready to get tangled in that right now," Oxnard 
Planning Manager Sue Martin said Monday.

A San Diego judge ruled in December that the state law is legal, but 
San Diego County has appealed the ruling.

Oxnard began researching the issue in 2005, after a medical marijuana 
user inquired about opening a dispensary. Council members adopted a 
temporary ban on such facilities while city planners, lawyers and law 
enforcement officials researched the issue.

The panel extended the ban twice. It is set to expire next month.

The city has received at least six inquiries from other users about 
opening dispensaries.

Meanwhile, a staff report for tonight's hearing cites other problems: 
Federal drug officers have stepped up raids of known dispensaries. 
Crime goes up in cities that allow them.

And Ventura County has not implemented the identification card 
program, also bowing to the conflict over state and federal laws.

Camarillo resident Lisa Schwarz, a former registered nurse and 
founding member of Ventura County Alliance of Medical Marijuana 
Patients, said she wasn't disappointed in the city's recommendation.

"And I don't blame them," Schwarz said Monday, citing increased raids 
by federal agents on dispensaries.

State agencies apparently don't track the number of dispensaries. 
However, Aaron Smith, a statewide organizer with Safe Access Now, 
which advocates implementing the California laws, estimates that 
roughly 400 dispensaries operate in California with some 300 
concentrated in Los Angeles County.

Smith said he was disappointed by Oxnard's recommendation, arguing 
that a permanent ban would violate the spirit if not the letter of state law.

"Oxnard is a subdivision of the state of California, not the federal 
government," Smith said. "The City Council needs to uphold and 
implement state laws. They're not an arm of the federal government. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake