Pubdate: Thu, 09 May 2013
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348

STRONG RX FOR OUT-OF-CONTROL POT SALE RULES

The California Supreme Court cut through the haze of a 16-year debate
about medicinal marijuana and put one important argument to rest. The
court found that, yes, cities and counties have the authority to
regulate pot dispensaries even if it means banning them outright.

The high court went one step further. It validated the authority of
local governments to make most decisions about what happens within
their borders, noting that the state's ability to preempt that
authority "is not lightly presumed."

The unanimous decision affirms efforts in areas such as unincorporated
Sonoma County and Santa Rosa that have established clear limits on the
operation of dispensaries. The ruling also upholds all-out bans in
Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Healdsburg and some 190 other
jurisdictions in the state.

"While some counties and cities might consider themselves well suited
to accommodating medical marijuana dispensaries, conditions in other
communities might lead to the reasonable decision that such facilities
. would present unacceptable local risks and burdens," Justice
Marvin R. Baxter wrote for the court.

It's strong medicine, but it's the remedy that local governments
needed to make sense of a dysfunctional system left in the aftermath
of Proposition 215, the voter-approved 1996 initiative that authorized
the cultivation and use of cannabis for medical purposes.

The alternative was to disallow local controls, which potentially
would lead to the proliferation of cannabis cooperatives, as has
occurred in some areas. Los Angeles, which currently has no limits
despite efforts to establish them, has more than 700
dispensaries.

While voters clearly supported the right of access to medicinal
marijuana, it's hard to argue they intended that to be an absolute
right. That's why cities and counties are obliged to establish
boundaries, prohibiting sales, for example, within 500 feet of schools
and parks, as is the rule in Santa Rosa.

So far, the limits in Sonoma County have been reasonable. Last year,
the county set a cap of nine marijuana dispensaries. Currently there
are two dispensaries in Santa Rosa, one in Cotati and one in Sebastopol.

While this ruling provides some needed clarity, it's no resolution.
Although it grants local jurisdictions great leeway in regulating
dispensaries, greater consistency is needed in what those regulations
should be. This is where the Legislature should step in with some
uniform guidelines in such areas as how large dispensaries can be, how
and where marijuana can be grown and how medical marijuana cards are
issued.

Meanwhile, the cultivation and sale of marijuana for any purpose
remains a violation of federal law, which continues to expose
dispensaries to raids, regardless of their compliance with state and
local laws. Nothing in this ruling is going to provide clarity in that
area.

Success will come the day that the rules for buying medicinal
marijuana are consistent, that the issuance of medicinal marijuana
cards is closely enforced and federal authorities acknowledge that the
ability to trump state law concerning pot sales "is not lightly
presumed." But that's not today.
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