Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jun 2012
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Katherine Poythress

MARIJUANA INITIATIVE APPEARS HEADED TO BALLOT

IB Ballot Measure Would Repeal Ban on Local Dispensaries

IMPERIAL BEACH - Early results indicate more than 15 percent of 
registered voters in Imperial Beach have signed a petition that would 
allow residents to vote on whether to repeal the city's ban on 
medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Safe Access Ordinance of Imperial Beach proposes overturning the 
City Council's decision last year to ban the facilities. Local 
supporters of medical marijuana dispensaries say that Imperial 
Beach's ban is the most restrictive of all cities in San Diego 
County, because it prohibits even those with medical licenses from 
keeping their own plants.

The six-page ordinance is crafted to ensure "that seriously ill 
Californians and residents of the city of Imperial Beach can obtain 
and use cannabis for medical purposes where that medical use has been 
deemed appropriate by a physician in accordance with California law," 
according to the document.

The measure would allow patients to smoke inside a dispensary if 
certain requirements are met, and allow the shops to operate from 6 
a.m. to 11 p.m. The ordinance would also not allow the stores to be 
within 600 feet of a school or 300 feet of another dispensary. It 
does not include any special fees to help offset the cost of 
regulation and enforcement.

"Strong regulations like the ones we're proposing would keep medical 
cannabis away from children and schools, and create a safe means for 
those who are qualified, to have safe, reliable, local access to that 
medicine," said Eugene Davidovich, a local member of Americans for 
Safe Access, which co-sponsored the initiative with Canvass for a 
Cause. "At the same time, we're taking into strong consideration the 
concerns of the neighborhood."

The initiative garnered more than 2,600 signatures and 1,555 appear 
to qualify under petition regulations requiring them to belong to 
registered voters, Davidovich said. He turned the signatures in to 
the city clerk Friday.

"It was truly a community effort," he said of the signature drive, 
which cost about $4,000. "We didn't hire an outside 
signature-gathering firm. This was volunteer activists, along with a 
few paid folks. A lot of the folks that went out there to just about 
every street in I.B. were patients, some of whom are terminal patients."

City Manager Gary Brown said earlier this year that if enough 
signatures are collected and verified, the City Council could decide 
whether to adopt the ordinance outright or put the question to 
voters. City officials did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

The measure could qualify for a special election under state law if 
enough signatures are verified by the county Registrar of Voters in 
the coming weeks. But the repeal proposal could still be placed on 
ballots in November to save the city the expense of holding a special election.

If the number of verified signatures drops below 15 percent of the 
10,000 registered voters, Davidovich said, the city would have the 
option to postpone a vote by first conducting a months-long impact 
study before placing it on ballots in the next regularly scheduled election.

Supporters have been working hard to get this issue on the November 
ballot, he added, because more voters are likely to turn out in a 
presidential election year.

"We want every voice in I.B. heard, we want every resident to come 
out and vote on this issue," he said. "Truly, our intent is not to 
force the city to hold a special election, but to show how much 
support there is and show that this is something the voters want down here."

A November ballot measure could cost about $60,000 for Imperial 
Beach, which has about 26,000 residents.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom