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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom