Source: Ventura County Star (CA) Contact: Wed, 04 Feb 1998 Author: Billie Owens, Staff Writer THOUSAND OAKS COUNCIL VOTES TO BAR POT CLUBS Law would make it impossible to buy medical marijuana. The Thousand Oaks City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to write a city ordinance to regulate medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the city. The vote -- Councilwoman Elois Zeanah voted no -- came a day after a civil lawsuit was filed by Ventura County prosecutors. The lawsuit alleges the operators of the Rainbow Country Ventura County Medical Cannabis Center are engaged in "unlawful, unfair and fraudulent" acts that violate state and federal law. The center's operators, Thousand Oaks residents Andrea Nagy and Robert Carson, are the defendants. The action alleges the center is a public nuisance and that "great or irreparable injury would result to the public" if the business remains open. With about 75 people in the audience, the council voted to: Establish an ordinance regulating medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Declare that medicinal marijuana dispensary is not a permitted use in any zone. "This ordinance makes it impossible to obtain medical marijuana," Zeanah said. "It will force people to go to the criminal element." Earlier, Zeanah and Linda Parks sought to table the zoning recommendations until the case filed by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office is resolved. Mayor Michael Markey and Councilman Andy Fox disagreed with that plan. They said the council needs to safeguard the health and safety of residents regardless of what a judge or court elsewhere decides. "We're looking at (the possibility) of operators coming into Thousand Oaks, and my concern is that we send a very clear message that these types of business won't be allowed," Fox said before the meeting. City Attorney Mark Sellers said the city's actions deal with zoning and the prosecutor's case is about possible state health and safety code violations, which he called "two entirely different things." District Attorney Michael D. Bradbury said Monday the state Legislature must approve guidelines to implement 1996's Proposition 215, an initiative that allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Along with asking the court to shut down Nagy's operation, prosecutors want Nagy and Carson to pay a combined $100,000 in fines and legal and investigative fees. The suit also asks that the Ventura County Sheriff's Department be allowed to seize the business and its contents and sell the furniture, fixtures and movable property seized from the business. The center, at 3617 Thousand Oaks Blvd., has been open since September. Nagy, a 28-year-old legal secretary, has vigorously fought efforts to close her center. Also voting in favor of the measure was Councilwoman Judy Lazar.