Pubdate: Fri, 11 Dec 2015 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.utsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. SOLANA BEACH MOVES TO BAN POT BUSINESSES SOLANA BEACH - Marijuana dispensaries, cultivation and deliveries have no place in Solana Beach, the City Council said this week. On Wednesday, the council directed city staff to prepare an ordinance that would ban those three avenues of medical marijuana distribution throughout Solana Beach. The ordinance will be presented for council approval early next year. City Manager Gregory Wade said the city needs to take action before March, or laws passed last year by the California Legislature would allow the state to step in and regulate medical marijuana in the city. About eight speakers urged the council to approve a ban, and none spoke against it. "Delivery services create a sort of Wild West scenario," Solana Beach resident Peggy Walker told the council. "If we do not act here in Solana Beach we are going to lose control, and it's very difficult to revoke those licenses if we do not have control." Barbara Gordon, a representative of the La Colonia Changers, a youth group at Eden Gardens, said a ban would help safeguard the teens who are the most vulnerable to drug abuse. "We know that marijuana from these dispensaries (is) being bought and resold to our teens," Gordon said. Other speakers included Judy Strang and Nancy Logan of the San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth, and Joe Kellejian, a former mayor of Solana Beach. San Diego is the only city in the county that has approved medical marijuana dispensaries. Several local cities have banned such businesses, and others have not addressed the issue. A number of dispensaries operate illegally throughout the county. The state passed a series of bills in September known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act that established California's first regulatory system for medical cannabis businesses. Those laws will allow dispensaries, cultivation and delivery in cities that haven't specifically passed ordinances to stop them. In 2012, Solana Beach voters decisively defeated a citizens initiative that would have allowed medical marijuana shops in the city. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom