Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2007
Source: Merced Sun-Star (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Merced Sun-Star
Contact:  http://www.mercedsun-star.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2546
Author: Corinne Reilly
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries

COUNTY BARS MEDICAL POT FACILITIES FROM SETTING UP SHOP

Law Enforcement Authorities Back the Ban by Saying the Dispensaries 
Attract Crime.

Merced County officials passed a law this week permanently banning 
medical marijuana dispensaries across the unincorporated county.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to support the 
law, which mirrors ordinances already adopted by the cities of 
Merced, Los Banos and Atwater.

Though there are no marijuana dispensaries in Merced County, 
officials said during Tuesday's board meeting that dispensaries have 
proven troublesome in other communities. Besides attracting crime, 
they can lower nearby property values, disrupt nearby businesses and 
increase illegal drug use and demands on police, county planning 
officials said.

Law enforcement officials spoke in support of the ban. Chris 
Gallagher, chief of the Los Banos Police Department, said robberies 
and violent crimes occurred regularly at dispensaries in the city of 
Arcata in Humboldt County, where he previously served as chief of 
police. "In my experience ... these dispensaries have been extremely 
disruptive," Gallagher said.

Merced Police Chief Russ Thomas and Atwater Police Chief Richard 
Hawthorne also spoke in support of the new law.

Three people spoke against the ban, including two medical marijuana 
patients. "What little compassion you have for sick people in this 
community," said Atwater resident Ed Gassaway. "It's appalling."

Other critics of the ban said it will only push patients to the black 
market to buy marijuana. They say instead of outlawing dispensaries, 
local governments should pass ordinances strictly regulating when, 
where and how they can operate. About 35 cities and counties across 
the state have taken that approach, according to a county report.

Fifty-seven cities and three other counties have chosen outright 
bans, including Stanislaus County.

"This is a huge mistake. It's a step in the wrong direction," said 
Merced resident Grant Wilson, who has long been on a personal crusade 
to protect the rights of local medical marijuana users. For years 
Wilson urged county officials to begin issuing identification cards 
for medical marijuana patients.

Last August, in an attempt to avoid issuing the cards, the county 
joined a lawsuit brought against the state by San Diego County. The 
counties argued that because federal law prohibits all uses of the 
drug, counties shouldn't be held to state laws requiring them to 
accommodate medical marijuana users.

The counties lost. In May, the Merced County public health department 
launched a program to issue the identification cards. So far, 11 have 
been issued.

In California, people with a valid prescription for marijuana are 
allowed to have up to eight usable ounces of the drug and six mature 
pot plants.

The ID cards are meant to help law enforcement officials quickly 
determine whether a person found in possession of marijuana is using 
the drug in compliance with the law, or whether he or she should be arrested.

Just under half of California's 58 counties issue ID cards, as 
required by a 2003 state law that expanded on Proposition 215.

California voters became the first in the country to legalize 
medicinal marijuana when they passed the proposition in 1996. Since 
then, 10 states have followed.

All marijuana users can still be prosecuted under federal law.

Wilson, 51, suffers from hepatitis C. He was arrested in 2005 after 
police discovered pot plants growing in his home. Wilson says he 
still grows his own marijuana, but he doesn't have the greenest 
thumb. When his crop doesn't produce as he hopes, he is forced to 
travel to dispensaries in San Francisco and Oakland to buy the drug. 
"All I want is to get my medicine close to home," he said Tuesday.

The county adopted a temporary ordinance banning marijuana 
dispensaries in May 2005. It expired a year later.

Before approving the permanent ban, supervisors said they support the 
law because the county's law enforcement departments are already 
overtaxed. They said dispensaries aren't necessary because there are 
so few medical marijuana users in Merced and because patients are 
permitted to grow their own marijuana in their homes.

Supervisor Mike Nelson noted that most Merced County residents -- 56 
percent of them -- didn't support Proposition 215 in 1996. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake