Pubdate: Mon, 10 Jun 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 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: Craig Gustafson

MEDICAL POT STORES OPEN ILLEGALLY

When it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego, the 
city might consider putting up a "Welcome to the Wild West" sign 
because that may be the most accurate description of the current 
state of affairs.

No rules. No regulations. No oversight.

At least 15 dispensaries are currently operating illegally within 
city limits as San Diego leaders attempt a second swing at 
implementing an ordinance that would provide a path to legitimacy for 
those businesses.

At the center of it all is Mayor Bob Filner. A strong proponent of 
marijuana use for medicinal purposes, the mayor has effectively 
stopped enforcement of the city's zoning laws as they pertain to 
dispensaries. That has led to a renewed proliferation of dispensaries 
throughout the city after more than 100 were shuttered through city 
prosecutions during the previous two years.

The bottom line is dispensaries aren't legally permissible in any 
land-use zone in the city and every single one that is currently open 
is in violation. Dozens of complaints have been filed with the city 
yet no action has been taken since January when Filner ordered police 
and code compliance officers to stop investigating dispensaries.

Filner backtracked a few weeks later and issued a joint statement 
Jan. 29 with City Council President Todd Gloria and City Attorney Jan 
Goldsmith saying a new ordinance is coming but until it's adopted no 
dispensaries would be allowed. "In order to preserve the status quo, 
the current zoning laws will be enforced," they wrote. "Dispensaries 
should not open in violation of existing laws."

Despite that statement, the city isn't enforcing the law. The City 
Attorney's Office hasn't prosecuted a single dispensary since January 
because no cases have been forwarded by the Police Department or 
Neighborhood Code Compliance, both of which investigate complaints 
and are under Filner's purview.

A U-T San Diego reporter obtained a list of medical marijuana 
dispensaries and visited them last week. Fifteen were open for 
business in the neighborhoods of La Jolla, North Park, Pacific Beach, 
Point Loma and University Heights. None of the owners or managers 
were willing to be interviewed.

Ryan Collier, a volunteer at Patient Med Aid in Pacific Beach, said 
dispensaries have always worried about crackdowns by federal 
authorities, but there is less concern now that the city will come 
knocking on their doors.

"We finally have a mayor who understands, is a little more educated 
on the issue," he said.

Collier later added that the city needs to stop delaying and set the 
rules. "It seems like a lack of the city doing its job. You know we 
voted for this. Obviously the people want it so make an ordinance. 
It's not up to us. It's up to them to make an ordinance."

Filner didn't respond to requests for comment Thursday and Friday. He 
has repeatedly insisted that he is enforcing the law despite mounting 
evidence to the contrary.

Alex Kreit, a Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor who chaired 
the city's Medical Marijuana Task Force, said the current state of 
unregulated dispensaries could provide the "kick in the pants" the 
City Council needs to finally adopt an ordinance that sets forth 
clear rules and regulations for the businesses. He also noted city 
leaders created this situation by not acting sooner.

"They only have to look in the mirror to find who to blame," Kreit said.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who has been at loggerheads with Filner 
for months, said the issue of enforcing the city's zoning laws has 
nothing to do with the pros or cons of medical marijuana but is 
rather a question of fairness.

"Why does one group have to follow the law on zoning and other local 
ordinances, but another group gets a pass?" Goldsmith said. "... 
We're supposed to be under the rule of law so everybody has the same 
rules or is it special privileges if you have friends in high places?"

That's the same argument dispensary opponents are making.

Scott Chipman, with San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, a group that 
opposes dispensaries, told a council committee that if the city is 
unwilling to shut down illegal businesses it creates skepticism about 
everything the city does.

"It's important that you do your duty," he said. "Close these illegal 
businesses. If I opened a hot dog stand on Mission Boulevard, I'd be 
closed down within hours. But these stores are operating at will 
month after month and they're endangering our community."

Eugene Davidovich, local coordinator with the group Americans for 
Safe Access, a pro-medical marijuana group, said he disagrees with 
the premise that dispensaries are currently illegal. The zoning laws 
don't address them in any way, he said, and the City Council voted 
unanimously in April to craft an ordinance that would allow them to operate.

Davidovich called those running dispensaries "admirable and 
courageous" for providing a service to needy patients at great 
personal risk to their businesses.

"The reason we have so many (dispensaries) out there is because there 
is a need for sick and dying people to have a place to walk into with 
safe and reliable access to marijuana," he said.

Most of the open dispensaries visited by the U-T were nondescript and 
low-key with no outward sign that the location sells medical 
marijuana. About half had security guards on the premises (pot shops 
are frequent targets for robbers). One dispensary in Point Loma, 
which was closed, had a "Bob Filner for Mayor 2012" sign on the building.

Council members have also expressed concern with the lawlessness 
regarding dispensaries.

"The mayor agreed with the council to enforce the existing laws and 
regulations. That was very clear," said Councilman Kevin Faulconer. 
"I don't understand why he's not doing that."

Through a spokeswoman, council President Todd Gloria blamed the 
enforcement stalemate on the ongoing conflict between Filner and 
Goldsmith. He also made it clear that any dispensaries currently 
operating won't be grandfathered in under whatever rules are 
eventually put in place by the council.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but state voters approved its 
use for medicinal purposes in 1996. The city has wrestled with 
creating a zoning ordinance for marijuana dispensaries for years.

The simplest solution, of course, is for the City Council to finally 
enact an ordinance. That's easier said than done. The council passed 
an ordinance in 2011 that was repealed after med pot advocates 
gathered enough signatures to trigger a public vote.

In April, the council revived the failed 2011 ordinance with minor 
changes rather than support a new proposal by Filner. The City 
Attorney's Office has drafted the new proposed ordinance and it is 
set for public review over the next several weeks. No date has been 
set for a final council vote.

The proposal would limit dispensaries to some commercial and 
industrial zones and require them to be at least 1,000 feet from each 
other as well as schools, playgrounds, libraries, child care and 
youth facilities, parks and churches. They also must operate as 
nonprofits, have curtailed business hours and hire security guards.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom