Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA) Copyright: 2009 The Tribune Contact: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391 Author: Sona Patel Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/people/Charles+Lynch Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL CANNABIS ISSUE HAS NOT DISPENSED WITH MORRO BAY After more than a year of temporarily banning medical marijuana dispensaries in Morro Bay, city leaders will be faced with the issue of whether to allow so-called pot shops to operate in the coastal town. A temporary local law that outlawed new medical marijuana dispensaries in Morro Bay expired in December. Since then, several San Luis Obispo County patients have been filling medical marijuana prescriptions in dispensaries elsewhere, according to Heather Poet, whose Santa Barbara dispensary serves residents from San Luis Obispo to Ventura County. I feel so bad for patients that have to drive so far to get their medicine," Poet said. Morro Bay became the center of the debate over medical marijuana during the case of Charles Lynch, who was convicted in federal court for running the Morro Bay medical dispensary Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers last year. City Attorney Rob Schultz said the City Council has been supportive of other dispensaries in the area. However, no new policies have been put forth on how it could handle future shops. The city has not received any applications for dispensaries, Schultz said. A Templeton man had visited the city and was asking questions about the moratorium and the city's policies on dispensaries. He was just asking some questions," Schultz said. "He is certainly looking around." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom