Pubdate: Thu, 25 Aug 2016
Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsreview.com/sacto/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540
Author: John Flynn

INCONSISTENT STRAINS: MEDICINAL USERS STRUGGLE WITH SACRAMENTO 
REGION'S PATCHWORK MARIJUANA LAWS

Rancho Cordova Bans Dispensaries, Sacramento Allows Them and Other 
Cities Fall in the Middle

Sometimes, Stephanie Raskin smokes marijuana to stop thinking about 
suicide. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, she remains 
stable through a blend of prescription pills that must be constantly 
tweaked to match her body chemistry. When the pharmaceuticals fall 
short, she supplements her treatment with medical marijuana. But her 
hometown, Rancho Cordova, bans dispensaries. And the closest one is 
11 miles away.

"It's frustrating," she said. "Especially with my condition, I get 
debilitatingly depressed to the point where everything is a 
monumental task. I only smoke because my depression can cause 
suicidal thoughts. And sativa can keep me from reaching those depths. 
I'm not one of those sit-on-the-couch stoners."

Raskin brought her complaints to the Rancho Cordova City Council on 
August 1 and 15, and says she will continue to attend meetings until 
it reconsiders the ban. But she felt council members merely "humor" her.

The council imposed the ban in 2013, and decided to uphold it a 
couple of weeks ago, despite the tax benefits that City Attorney Adam 
Lindgren said the permitted sale of medical marijuana would bring.

Raskin would like to open her own boutique dispensary, preferably in 
Rancho Cordova if the ban is lifted. But since she's on a fixed 
income, Raskin can't afford a permit to grow personal-use marijuana 
indoors as it costs $600 per square foot. The cost is so prohibitive 
that no one in Rancho Cordova has a permit on record. Citrus Heights 
and Davis have similar bans, but both have delivery services for 
patients in the area, while Davis doesn't charge personal-use permit fees.

Sacramento allows residential cultivation of marijuana for personal 
use and currently boasts 30 medical marijuana dispensaries, which 
produced $4 million in tax revenue during the 2015-16 fiscal year.

On August 16, the Sacramento City Council unanimously extended by a 
year a moratorium on commercial marijuana cultivation so grow 
operations don't proliferate before proper regulations are in place. 
Once the moratorium expires on September 18, 2017, the city could 
open up 22,000 square feet for indoor cultivation in agricultural, 
industrial and general commercial areas. It's already received 
inquiries from 600 potential applicants.

But before that happens, council members want to ensure cultivation 
facilities are odor-free, environmentally friendly and properly 
vetted, surveilled and secured before allowing more into the city. 
"We have to get it right," Councilman Eric Guerra said before moving 
to extend the moratorium.

Rancho Cordova has employed a more black-and-white approach.

On July 5, its city council cited its concerns with federal law still 
classifying marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic, even though President 
Barack Obama hasn't targeted states that legalized marijuana and 
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's platform supports eventual 
legalization. A speaker at the meeting warned about the drug's 
"increased potency," but Raskin actually desires this. She wants to 
limit her consumption while keeping the depression-lifting benefits.

California Cannabis Industry Association Executive Director Nate 
Bradley calls potency concerns "fearmongering," as high-potency 
strains have always existed and low-potent strains still exist. 
According to him, the most popular strain sold nationally is Blue 
Dream, which has a relatively low content of about 12-14 percent THC.

"It's actually a moderate strain," he said. "And (it's for) the same 
reason why the majority of the nation drinks Coors' Light and not Everclear."

Still, inexperienced users may "overdose" on products like edibles 
that only require one bite.

In 2013, 154 people were admitted to Sacramento County emergency 
rooms for marijuana, according to a report by the Sacramento County's 
Department of Health and Human Services. But that number only 
represents 2 percent of that year's total of drug-related visits, 
with nearly 4,000 for alcohol.

Bradley, a former police officer, claims that Rancho's dispensary ban 
only pushes marijuana underground.

"When you ban something, you don't actually get rid of it, you only 
relegate it to an unregulated market, which doesn't test it, sells it 
directly to children and uses the money to further their criminal 
enterprises" he said. "So when a city bans it, what they're saying 
is, 'I want it sold in my high schools.'"

In 2013, UCLA researchers found that crime actually lowered in the 
vicinity of Sacramento dispensaries that had security cameras and 
guards. Additionally, dispensary owners must operate under expensive 
permits that will be revoked if they sell to minors or non-patients. 
And a "Track and Trace" program scans a bar code on each sale that 
can be cross-referenced to security camera footage if need be.

Bradley says that concerned lawmakers would be better off mandating 
safety requirements, especially since the Adult Use of Marijuana Act 
proposition boasts support from a coalition of lawmakers, civil 
rights organizations, environmentalists, retired police officers and 
medical professionals. It will likely pass in November. If it does, 
the Department of Finance predicts an additional $1 billion in 
statewide tax revenue-funds Rancho Cordova (and Davis and Citrus 
Heights) won't see unless they lift their bans.

"They're going to miss out on a lot of new teachers, a lot of new 
police officers (and firefighters) that they could hire," Bradley 
said. "Honestly, they're doing a disservice to the citizens of the 
city that they represent."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom