Pubdate: Thu, 12 Nov 2015
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Megan Nicolai

TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN?

Newport Beach is the latest Orange County city moving to ban medical 
marijuana operations in the ongoing tug-of-war over drug policy.

City, state and federal laws are often at odds, leaving dispensary 
operators and patients often crying foul.

While some local cities are cracking down, Santa Ana recently became 
the first in the county to grant permits for legal pot shops. Yet 
that process has been slow, and Santa Ana police have been shutting 
down illegally operating dispensaries, often only to find them open 
again the next day.

Newport Beach, on the other hand, has decided on a no-tolerance 
policy, citing safety concerns and nuisance issues. The City Council 
voted unanimously Tuesday to prohibit marijuana cultivation, 
processing, delivery and dispensaries. The measure will return to the 
council for a final vote later this month.

Randall Longwith, an attorney who has worked with dispensaries and 
cities throughout Orange County, said the cities banning dispensaries 
are reacting to a stigma he says is quickly fading away.

"If you're a city like Newport Beach ... you may not want that stigma 
associated with your city," Longwith said. "The problem with that 
line of thinking is, that stigma isn't necessarily there for them to 
fight against anymore. It's a thing of the past. ... People's beliefs 
are changing."

Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills and Rancho Santa Margarita also have 
bans on medical marijuana dispensaries. In Anaheim, at least 163 
dispensaries have been put out of business through a variety of 
crackdown measures, including fining landowners and property managers 
who rent to dispensaries or shutting off utilities.

Others have looked at bringing dispensaries into the mainstream. 
Santa Ana initiated a lottery and allowed 20 nonprofits to apply for 
permits to operate dispensaries under strict regulations, and Laguna 
Woods also allows medical marijuana. In Costa Mesa, voters are 
expected to consider two measures on the November 2016 ballot that 
would create a legal permitting process.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety 
Act in October, which further regulates cultivation, processing, 
transportation, testing and distribution of medical marijuana beyond 
the parameters of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The new law also 
allows cities to prohibit the activities within their borders.

Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry said Wednesday he had asked the 
city's police chief and city attorney whether the council could 
bolster the city's informal ban on dispensaries in light of the new 
legislation, which resulted in Tuesday's ordinance. Curry said those 
using medical marijuana could go to nearby cities for the services 
they're looking for.

"I don't believe it contributes to our community," Curry said. 
Dispensaries "have generally tended to breed crime."

Longwith said while he can understand that argument, a lot of 
problems can be mitigated with the addition of a highly trained 
security guard. Others are working to set up credit unions that 
dispensaries and other medical marijuana businesses can use.

"It defies logic, after all we know, to deny patients access to 
this," Longwith said.

While no members of the public spoke at the meeting Tuesday, several 
residents wrote the council saying the city was at odds with the 
changing public perception of marijuana and asking them to reconsider 
the impact the ordinance would have on medical marijuana access. It 
could also encourage illegal distribution, they wrote.

Resident Mark Wyland wrote in an email that his girlfriend's son uses 
medical marijuana to treat his condition and that the ordinance would 
hinder his ability to get it.

"Are you trying to make it illegal for him to use a legal marijuana 
product in our home?" Wyland wrote. "Please think this out carefully. 
You might cause much harm to your citizens unwittingly."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom