Pubdate: Sun, 08 Dec 2013 Source: Napa Valley Register (CA) Copyright: 2013 Lee Enterprises Contact: http://www.napavalleyregister.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/736 LEGAL EXPOSURE GETS OBSCURED IN PASSION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE The city of Napa witnessed yet another game of medical marijuana tug-of-war play out in council chambers last week. Advocates made points. Critics made others. Few opened themselves to new viewpoints and the council heard the same impassioned arguments for and against medical marijuana that have been made in front of them for years. It was disappointing in so much as the pros and cons of medical marijuana were not the issue at hand. The question in front of the council wasn't whether medical marijuana is a good or bad thing for Napa. It wasn't even about whether a Napa-based marijuana dispensary is appropriate. Those questions have already been asked and answered by the city of Napa. It's how we came to have a dispensary ordinance in the first place. Last week's vote was about how vulnerable the city's ordinance was to a federal legal challenge. Staff and the city attorney say they believe it left the city too exposed to serious litigation. In a 3-2 vote, the council agreed. Too many in attendance Tuesday made the argument about something else. Marijuana proponents, by and large, made their pleas to an already sympathetic council. While many opponents spoke not to the legal issue but to the dangers of dispensaries themselves, dangers the city had already spent years working to minimize in the adopted ordinance. This issue isn't as simple as a thumbs up or down for medical marijuana. Whether you are for or against improved local access, it is important to remember that this vote was about legal vulnerability and not morality or the risk of increased criminal activity. Some public comment did acknowledge the true issue at hand and were in fact pleading with the council to test that legal water. And to their credit, councilmembers were weighing the legal element most heavily in their comments and their votes. Too often in local debate, the mechanics of the issue gets obscured and forgotten in the roar of ancillary causes. This was evident in the Planning Commission's approach to this same dispensary ban. The planners, who voted 3-2 last month not to repeal the dispensary ordinance, essentially ignored the legal issue presented to them by the city attorney in favor of support for medical marijuana itself. Multiple commissioners encouraged the City Council to "lead the way" on standing up against the threat of federal intervention. The council decided the possibility of picking a fight with the U.S. government wasn't in the best interest of the city of Napa. The medical marijuana issue itself, however, isn't going away. Polls throughout the country show public acceptance of marijuana use, especially for medicinal purposes, is on the rise and the connected legal issues continue to evolve. Medical marijuana questions will be put before the city of Napa again. When next such an issue is raised locally, let's make sure the details get their proper due throughout the public process and are not drowned out the way they were through this one. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt