Pubdate: Tue, 19 May 2009
Source: Sonoma Index-Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Sonoma Valley Publishing
Contact:  http://www.sonomanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/415
Author: David Bolling, Index-Tribune Editor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

COUNCIL TO MULL MEDICAL POT RULES

Medical marijuana returns to the City Council Wednesday evening in the
form of a draft ordinance that would regulate establishment of
dispensaries within city limits.

The draft ordinance is the product of three Planning Commission
meetings during which proposed regulations were modified at the
suggestion of both proponents and critics of the dispensaries. Central
to the council's deliberations may be a recent state supreme court
decision defining legal protection for "primary caregivers" who supply
patients with medical marijuana, along with a recent opinion from the
state attorney general's office on the same subject.

Both the decision and the opinion may tighten the legal definition of
a medical marijuana dispensary, and that definition  could influence
the council's decision on whether or not to proceed with a city
ordinance. Choices before the council will be to introduce a draft
ordinance with requested revisions, refer the ordinance back to city
staff and the Planning Commission for further review, or decline to
introduce the ordinance which would continue the city's ban on
dispensaries.

To prepare for a decision, council members will have to wade through
some 150 pages of reports, studies and opinions on medical marijuana.

In another significant agenda item the city will hear an update on a
state proposal to "borrow" money from city governments to get the
state through the next budget crisis. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
"May Revise" budget released May 14, contains a provision for
borrowing city property taxes in amounts up to 8 percent. For the city
of Sonoma, that would amount to $333,000. In response, the League of
California Cities has launched a "Save Your City" campaign to resist
the "borrowing" proposal.

The state budget picture will not begin to be clarified until after
today's election results are counted.

The council will meet at 5 p.m. in a study session with the Community
Services and Environment Commission, and the regular council meeting
will begin at 6 p.m. Both meetings will be in the Community Meeting
Room, 177 First St. W. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D