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." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom