Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 Source: Whittier Daily News (CA) Copyright: 2008 Los Angeles Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/writealetter Website: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/497 Author: Mike Sprague, Staff Writer Cited: La Mirada City Council http://www.cityoflamirada.org/citycouncil.htm Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/ Cited: California NORML http://www.canorml.org/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal) LA MIRADA TO BAN POT CLINICS City Council Expected to OK Urgency Statute LA MIRADA - The City Council is expected to adopt an urgency ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries at its Tuesday meeting. It would go into effect immediately. La Mirada would be the 64th city in the state to ban such establishments. It adopted a moratorium or temporary ban in April 2006, but it will expire April 24 and can't be extended. In this area, La Habra and Pico Rivera both have moratoriums on dispensaries. Whittier has an ordinance that limits where they can be open. Mayor Hal Malkin said La Mirada needs to ban the dispensaries in order to avoid getting involved in a fight between the state and federal government. Medical marijuana dispensaries have been legal under state law since 1996, when California voters passed Proposition 215, which allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes. "The problem is that the federal government says (medical marijuana) is outright illegal," Malkin said. "We've got the feds saying one thing and the state saying another. We don't want to be involved in this. When it's settled we can determine what we want to do," he said. Malkin said the city ban has nothing to do with whether medical marijuana is good or bad. "The issue was us becoming litigants because someone builds here and they say they have permission from the state," he said. But medical marijuana proponents criticize the pending ban. Bill Britt, executive director of Long Beach-based Patient Advocates, called it "uncompassionate." Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, also was critical. "It's sort of a knee-jerk reaction to make bans as a policy and not recognize the need of patients, who can't grow (marijuana) and rely on these facilities," Hermes said. Ruben Arceo, director of community development, also said a ban is needed because dispensaries can have negative effects. "Various public agencies throughout California have reported adverse and dangerous secondary effects," Arceo stated in a staff report. "These include, but are not limited to, crimes committed against persons leaving the vicinity of dispensaries, illegal drug activity, persons driving vehicles under the influence of controlled substances obtained from dispensaries and sale of marijuana to non-qualified persons," he stated. Dale Gieringer, director of the California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said allegations that these businesses attract crime are untrue. "A lot of places have regulations like the city of Oakland and they've had no problem whatsoever," Gieringer said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake