Pubdate: Mon, 30 Jul 2012
Source: Coast News, The (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Coast News Group
Contact:  http://thecoastnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5280

SOLANA BEACH RESIDENTS TO DECIDE FATE OF DISPENSARIES

SOLANA BEACH - Solana Beach residents will decide in the Nov. 6
election whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in their city.

But as is the case in adjacent Del Mar, even if the initiative passes,
there's no guarantee it will become law.

The Patient Care Association of California, a nonprofit organization
of medical cannabis collectives, gathered the required number of
signatures - 508, or 10 percent of register voters - to qualify for
the November ballot a citizens' initiative aimed at regulating medical
marijuana compassionate use dispensaries.

Election laws prohibit council members from making any changes to the
document, which has been described by some as flawed.

As written, the proposed new law would allow dispensaries to be open
from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. At least one security guard, who could be a
member of the collective with a card from the Department of Consumer
Affairs, must be on duty during operating hours.

Security cameras, an alarm system and proper lighting would be
required. Marijuana and any food containing it could not be consumed
onsite. Alcohol would not be allowed on the premises.

No one younger than 18 could be given medical marijuana unless that
person is a qualified patient accompanied by a parent or legal
guardian who provides proof of guardianship and signs a statement
confirming that status.

Evaluations to receive medical cannabis cannot be conducted
onsite.

Dispensaries cannot be within 1,000 feet of each other and must be in
nonresidential zones. They also cannot operate within a 600-foot
radius of a kindergarten through 12th-grade school or playground
unless those facilities begin operating after the dispensary has
received its business license.

The city can only be compensated for cost-recovery fees but it will
receive a 2.5 percent sales tax in addition to other state and local
taxes. That amount will be reduced to 1 percent if the state begins
imposing a tax on medical marijuana.

City Attorney Johanna Canlas said some of the legal issues with the
initiative include the possibility of it being pre-empted by state and
federal laws and potential inconsistency with California's
Compassionate Use Act. Review by the California Coastal Commission may
also be required because of zoning changes, she said.

"It's clear - as clear as it can be - depending on all the legal court
challenges that (have) happened that some regulation or restriction on
medical marijuana dispensaries are permitted," Canlas said.

The California Supreme Court recently granted review on two cases
regarding medical marijuana. The court rulings on those cases will
likely impact whether local governments are pre-empted under the
Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996, to regulate these types of
businesses.

"What's clear is that it appears to violate the limitations on local
sales and transaction taxes," she said. "The petition, as submitted,
appears to put obstacles for enforcement of federal law."

Given all the unknowns, City Council can provide a post-election
challenge if the initiative passes and "more likely than not it will
be litigated in the courts," Canlas said.

More than two dozen people weighed in during the public comment
period, with opinions nearly evenly split between those who support
allowing the dispensaries and those who oppose them.

Cancer patients, chronic pain sufferers and a 19-year-old with
Tourette syndrome credited medical marijuana for easing their
suffering. Parents, health care workers and representatives from
antidrug groups feared the dispensaries would provide youths with
increased access to the drug and send the message that marijuana isn't
harmful.

"I've undergone multiple surgeries, including a bilateral mastectomy,
radiation, chemotherapy," said Tamara Green, a 39-year-old Solana
Beach resident with stage four breast cancer.

"Besides losing my hair three times, I also suffered with chronic
pain, nausea, a poor appetite, osteoporosis, numbness in my fingers
and toes, a compromised immune system and gangrene," she said. "Both
the disease and the cure have had equally poor outcomes until medical
marijuana."

"I do have great compassion for those who are in pain," said Evelyn
Hogan, a parent and 25-year drug and alcohol counselor.

"I also happen to have a son that =C2=85 went into a doctor - I guess you

would call them a doctor - and came out with a recommendation for
marijuana for an ingrown toenail. He then proceeded two weeks later to
get into a car crash that almost killed him."

"I urge you to please, let us have our medicine," said Steve Hirsch, a
58-year-old man with Legionnaire's disease.

"The plastic medical vials that the dispensaries put the medicine in
are showing up on our high school campuses and =C2=85 the parks at our
elementary schools," said Barbara Gordon, from the San Dieguito
Alliance for Drug Free Youth. "What sick person would go to the park
to use their medicine and leave the empty medicine bottle behind?"

"The issue before us tonight is really not to debate the pros or the
cons of the validity of the use of medical marijuana," Councilman Tom
Campbell said.

Faced with the citizens' initiative, council members had three
choices. They could place the initiative on the ballot, which they
unanimously agreed to do at the July 25 meeting, or adopt the proposed
ordinance as written.

They also could have ordered a report that would have had to be
returned within 30 days, at which point they would have had the same
two options.

Had they done that, the report would have been received too late to be
placed on the November ballot. That could have forced a special
election, estimated to cost $225,000 rather than the $5,000 to $9,000
to include it in the upcoming general election.

An identical initiative was presented to Del Mar in June. Council
members in that city ordered a report, which Solana Beach officials
studied. Canlas prepared a similar report for the July 25 meeting in
anticipation of the initiative being presented.

All five Del Mar council members voiced opposition to the dispensaries
before voting July 18 to place the initiative on the November ballot.

"My personal feelings are not relevant," Campbell said. Mayor Joe
Kellejian was the only Solana Beach council member to share his opinion.

"I will be working with every resource I have to oppose =C2=85 putting
medical marijuana facilities here in Solana Beach," Kellejian said.
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