Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jul 2014
Source: Hi-Desert Star (Yucca Valley, CA)
Copyright: 2014 Hi Desert Star
Contact:  http://www.hidesertstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3921
Author: Alexis Cubit, Hi-Desert Star

MARIJUANA ADVOCATE PRESSURES YUCCA VALLEY TO ALLOW SHOPS

YUCCA VALLEY =AD There are no medical marijuana dispensaries in Yucca
Valley. The closest one is in Palm Springs. Jason Elsasser intends to
change that. On Monday, July 14, he and a few members of the Alliance
for Safe Access of Yucca Valley submitted paperwork to create an
ordinance allowing dispensaries in town.

The ordinance calls for the town of Yucca Valley to allow two
marijuana dispensaries selling to the public. The shops would have to
pay a special 10 percent tax on sales, which would go to the town's
general fund.

Elsasser described turning in the paperwork as "a huge
step."

The last legal dispensary available in the Morongo Basin shut down in
December 2013 after the Yucca Valley Town Council voted against
keeping it open, something Elsasser believes to be a mistake.

He says medical marijuana often has a negative connotation, but is
actually being used by an older crowd who need it.

"These are 60-year-old people," Elsasser said. "They don't want to
grow their own medicine. They don't want to have to rely on street
sources to get their cannabis. They want a place where they can come
with a knowledgeable staff that's going to assist them in their needs."

Earlier this year, he opened the Yucca Valley Medical Marijuana
Resource Group to give people consultations and recommendations for
medical marijuana. Since March, he said, a retired doctor working at
the center has given 500 recommendations. That gave him the evidence
he needed to take more action.

"I went through great lengths to put together an ordinance that's
going to benefit the town as well as benefit the patients," he said.

The first step for Elsasser in getting the dispensaries in Yucca
Valley was to get the proper paperwork filled out, turned in and
signed by Lesley Copeland, the town clerk.

The town now has 15 days to create a summary statement explaining
Elsasser's ordinance. Afterward, Elsasser must get signatures from 15
percent of Yucca Valley's registered voters in six months and turn
those into Copeland before the ordinance can move forward.

The Town Council can then either decide to adopt the ordinance or hold
a special election to vote on it.

Elsasser is positive something like his ordinance will come to
fruition statewide in 2016 and he wants Yucca Valley to be ahead of
the curve. He believes Palm Springs is a good model for why Yucca
Valley should open the medical marijuana dispensaries. In the
2013-2014 fiscal year, Palm Springs brought in around $4.5 million
from the three legal dispensaries. Ten percent of that money went into
Palm Springs general funds. It may be more than Yucca Valley would
bring in, but Elsasser is confident.

"If the dispensary brought in, say $2 million, then that's $200,000
that's going to the general fund," he said. "It's going to allow the
town to have extra money. It's greatly needed."

Elsasser hopes to have Yucca Valley residents' help in making his
vision come true.

[sidebar]

Illegal everywhere

Marijuana dispensaries are illegal everywhere in the Morongo
Basin.

- - Yucca Valley banned them in 2010, allowing one dispensary,
California Alternative Medicinal Solutions, to stay in business until
December 2012. CAMS later appealed the decision, but the council
rejected the appeal.

- - The Twentynine Palms City Council banned dispensaries in February
2010.

- - San Bernardino County banned dispensaries in all unincorporated
areas, like Morongo Valley, Joshua Tree, Landers and Yucca Mesa, in
2011.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D