Pubdate: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 Source: California Aggie, The (UC Davis, CA Edu) Copyright: 2004sThe California Aggie Contact: http://www.californiaaggie.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2725 Author: Morgan Kanninen Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS MORATORIUM OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES Proposal Allows City Staff To Develop Policy Today the Davis City Council will consider a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in order to define how the drug is distributed locally. The moratorium proposal was prompted by an inquiry to the city's planning and building department about three weeks ago, Planning Technician Lynanne Mehlhaff said. Neither Planning nor the Davis Police Department could find city policies regarding the establishment of such dispensaries, according to DPD Captain Steven Pierce. Without specific city regulations, medical marijuana dispensaries can start in any area that permits retail and medical clinics, such as the core commercial zones downtown. The moratorium would require that any dispensary apply for a conditional permit from the city to open. According to the proposal, if "dispensaries are allowed to proceed without appropriate review.the dispensaries could have potential adverse secondary effects on neighborhoods and the city that present a clear and immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare." The document defines a dispensary as any facility or location where medical marijuana is legally made available to two or more persons. Mehlhaff noted that the city commonly places conditions on the location, hours of operation, and parking availability of businesses. The city could also require that the business owners or employees run background checks, Pierce noted. Or the council could effectively ban dispensaries from the city, Pierce said, as the city of Rocklin did in July. Several Sacramento-area cities have set regulations on dispensaries since January, when one opened in Roseville. The city had not addressed the possibility of dispensaries when one opened in its historic downtown, Roseville Police Chief Joel Neves said. Since then, the dispensary has required regular attention from the city's police. He noted responding to calls ranging "from burglar alarm activations, to suspicious people loitering near the premises, to street drug vendors trying to solicit vendors and sell marijuana at a reduced price." Roseville has since developed ordinances for new dispensaries, as have the cities of Citrus Heights and Elk Grove, with Rancho Cordova's ordinance in process. Yolo County does not have an officially licensed dispensary, said Nathan Sands, founding director of Compassion Coalition, a political group that supports patients' rights to medical marijuana. The group was founded in Sacramento in March, and has been attending area city council meetings to support dispensaries, but is not against the regulation of such businesses. "I feel that is appropriate for cities to zone dispensaries," Sands said. "It helps patients when you get someone who's serious and willing to work with the city and so on," he explained. Yolo does have informal growers co-ops for medical marijuana, said Sands. The legality of any dispensary has been uncertain in California since 1996 when the state passed Proposition 215. The proposition contradicts federal law against the growth, use and distribution of marijuana in the cases of patients for whom doctors recommend the drug for medical treatment. In October, California Assembly Bill 420 gave cities jurisdiction to regulate dispensaries as they would other businesses, though they are still illegal by federal law. In regard to the city's decision against dispensaries that serve four or more patients, Rocklin City Manager Carlos Urrutia said, "We felt that the demand on police services would be greater than we wanted to have, and consequently [a dispensary] was not a land use we wanted in Rocklin." Pierce wrote the proposed moratorium, which will go before the Davis City Council at today's meeting. He stressed that the proposal was not to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. The moratorium, if passed, would last until Sept. 17 unless extended. "We're not looking at this point to do anything but give ourselves some time to look at the whole problem and not feel rushed to make a decision, and to be able to make a decision that is in the best interest of the entire community," he said.