Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jul 2015
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Stephen Wall

Upland

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE HEATS UP

Voters to Potentially Consider Two Ballot Initiatives That Would 
Allow Three Legal Dispensaries.

As the local and national debate swirls over medical marijuana, 
Upland voters will consider at least one and possibly two initiatives 
dealing with the issue in the next 16 months.

One measure has qualified for the November 2016 general election, and 
supporters are hoping to get enough signatures to have a special 
election this year.

The two proposals have the same aim: Overturn the city's 8-year-old 
ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. Three facilities authorized to 
sell medical marijuana would be allowed in the northwest part of the city.

Upland is the latest Inland city to debate medical marijuana at the 
ballot box. Riverside voters in June rejected a measure that would 
have allowed up to 10 medical marijuana facilities in the city's 
commercial and industrial zones. Yucca Valley voters defeated a 
similar proposal in June. In Riverside County, only Palm Springs, 
Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs allow storefront dispensaries.

In Upland, proponents got enough signatures between October and 
January for a special election in June 2015, but City Attorney 
Richard Adams found language in the initiative saying that a general 
election was required.

That's because the measure called for a $75,000 annual licensing and 
inspection fee for each dispensary. Because the city's cost to 
regulate the dispensaries is far less than $75,000, the fee would be 
considered a tax. The California Constitution, he said, defines a 
government-imposed fee that is higher than the cost to provide the 
service as a tax.

He said tax measures must be voted upon during a regularly scheduled 
election and not at a special election. So the City Council postponed 
the vote to the 2016 general election.

Supporters of the initiative filed a lawsuit to force a special 
election, but San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge David Cohn 
denied their request in May.

In response, proponents filed a petition and began gathering 
signatures for another measure that does not have a high enough fee 
to be a considered a tax. The proposed measure calls for a $15,000 
licensing fee, the amount city officials say it would cost to provide 
the service.

So while the November 2016 initiative remains on the ballot, 
supporters are hoping to turn in enough valid signatures for a 
special election this year. Proponents have until around Dec. 7 to 
submit the required number of signatures, city officials say.

If there are two initiatives and they both pass, the latter would 
take effect, Adams said.

Backers of the initiative include the California Cannabis Coalition, 
an Upland-based organization working to legalize marijuana across the state.

Craig Beresh, the group's president, said an earlier election is 
needed because patients with medical ailments can't afford to wait a 
year for marijuana to become legal in Upland.

Volunteers are going door-to-door and paid signature gatherers are 
asking people to sign petitions at shopping centers, said Ron 
Townsend, spokesman for the newly formed Californians for Responsible 
Government, which supports the measure.

Upland now has 17 illegal marijuana dispensaries, many of which are 
near schools, parks and in residential neighborhoods, Townsend said.

"Whether you're for or against marijuana or indifferent, that's not a 
situation anyone wants," said Townsend, an Ontario resident.

The measure would allow three facilities in an industrial area along 
Foothill Boulevard, near a strip club and Cable Airport.

Opponents have organized a campaign to defeat the proposed measure, 
sending a mailer last month urging voters not to sign the petition. 
Volunteers also show up at retail centers to counter signature 
gatherers and ensure people aren't misled about the initiative, said 
Paul Chabot, president of the Coalition for a Drug Free California, a 
Rancho Cucamonga-based organization fighting marijuana legalization efforts.

"We want voters to know what they're signing," said Chabot, who ran 
unsuccessfully for Congress last year and plans to seek a seat in the 
House of Representatives in 2016. "And we don't want to set a 
precedent of a small city getting bullied by a very wealthy marijuana 
industry that can make a lot of money selling dope in the community."

If dispensaries became legal and had to get permits and follow city 
regulations, it would free up resources for police and code 
enforcement officers to go after illegal businesses, supporters say.

During the past five to seven years, Upland has spent more than 
$750,000 in legal fees and staff costs to close illegal dispensaries, 
and nearly 15 have been shut down in the past year, said City Manager 
Rod Butler. He estimates about half a dozen are currently operating 
illegally in the city.

Butler is skeptical that allowing a few legal dispensaries will 
substantially reduce the city's legal bill.

"I wish I could believe that," he said. "If you look at cities that 
have allowed licensed regulated dispensaries, the experience has been 
that they are still fighting this underground network of dispensaries."

The issue has divided the City Council. Mayor Ray Musser, Mayor Pro 
Tem Glenn Bozar and councilwoman Carol Timm have said they want to 
keep dispensaries out of Upland. Councilman Gino Filippi an 
councilwoman Debbie Stone favor letting voters decide the matter in a 
special election.

"The ban is not working," Filippi said. "In a city with strapped 
finances, that's money that could be used in other areas for vital 
necessities."

He said the city should not have interfered with the process after 
proponents got enough signatures for a special election.

Filippi declined to state whether he supports lifting the ban, but 
said: "I'm sympathetic to people who need alternative sources of pain 
relief to enhance their quality of life."

Musser said the city can't afford the estimated $180,000 cost for a 
special election. A general election would cost about $30,000, he said.

He said marijuana dispensaries "bring an element of traffic and 
customers that really aren't desirable in town," adding that the 
facilities would be hard to tax and regulate because it's a cash industry.

"I oppose it because it's almost impossible to control," Musser said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom