Pubdate: Tue, 29 Dec 2015
Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391

SLO COUNTY CITIES SHOULD NOT BAN PATIENTS FROM GROWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Pismo Beach's proposed all-out ban on medical marijuana cultivation 
is unreasonable

We prefer Grover Beach's approach of allowing patients to grow the 
drug for personal use

California's effort to regulate the cultivation and sale of medical 
marijuana could wind up making it even harder for patients to obtain 
the drug in some parts of San Luis Obispo County. That's a shame, and 
it's not at all what Gov. Jerry Brown intended when he signed a trio 
of bills to increase oversight of medical pot.

"This new structure will make sure patients have access to medical 
marijuana, while ensuring a robust tracking system," Brown wrote in 
October, when he signed what was heralded as landmark legislation 
allowing for the licensing, taxation and regulation of marijuana sales.

Among other provisions, it specifies that cities and counties that 
don't have local ordinances governing cultivation will come under the 
umbrella of the state Department of Food and Agriculture. That's led 
local agencies to rush to put their own regulations in place.

Several California cities are banning the cultivation of even a small 
amount of medical marijuana for personal use, which will have the 
effect of turning sick people and their caregivers into criminals if 
they choose to grow a couple of plants. Others are banning only 
commercial cultivation.

The city of Pismo Beach is among those proposing a complete ban - 
something the police chief advocates because he says it would be too 
difficult to enforce a law that would allow even limited cultivation.

"Permissive regulatory actions that we take would be much more 
difficult depending on what we do, whether it is the amount of plants 
that can be grown, square footage, is it cubic or square feet, what 
can be seen or not seen, where it can be grown ... So it becomes much 
more tedious and much more resource-draining, depending on how we 
enforce that," police Chief Jake Miller said.

We find it hard to believe the city could not draft an easily 
understood, enforceable ordinance that would allow a small number of 
plants to be cultivated indoors, for personal use by patients who 
have legitimately been prescribed the drug.

We're disappointed that Pismo Beach is again taking such a hard line 
on the issue.

Remember, it was only last February when the City Council voted to 
ban mobile dispensaries - only to reverse the decision a month later 
following pleas from several constituents. One said medical marijuana 
was the only drug that could alleviate the extreme anxiety 
experienced by her 94-year-old mother, a dementia patient.

Patients living in Pismo Beach would still be able to purchase pot 
legally from mobile dispensaries, but if the cultivation ban passes, 
it would take away an option from those who prefer growing it themselves.

The Grover Beach City Council, on the other hand, directed its staff 
to move forward with a cultivation ban that would exempt patients and 
caregivers who grow medical pot for personal use, as allowed by the 
voter-approved Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

We find that to be a far more palatable approach. We commend the 
Grover Beach City Council for its empathy, and for respecting the 
wishes of voters.

We urge the Pismo Beach City Council - and any other local 
governments contemplating an all-inclusive ban on cultivation - to reconsider.

Please, do not turn sick people into criminals.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom