Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 Source: Santa Maria Times (CA) Copyright: 2010 Lee Central Coast Newspapers Contact: http://www.santamariatimes.com/contact/letter/ Website: http://www.santamariatimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/396 Author: Raiza Canelon BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO CONSIDER MORATORIUM ON MEDICAL-MARIJUANA CLINICS Medicine Or Menace? When California voters legalized the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996, it forced city and county governments to decide whether they would allow the establishment of medical-marijuana dispensaries within their borders. Santa Barbara has a city ordinance that allows and regulates such dispensaries, but all other cities in the county have "just said no." Santa Barbara County, however, has no law to prohibit or regulate "pot clinics" in unincorporated areas, and a public outrcy was raised recently when rumors circulated of attempts to open one in Santa Ynez or Los Olivos. After speakers in the audience at a December meeting demanded a ban, the Board of Supervisors asked county staff members to bring back an ordinance Jan. 19 to place a temporary moratorium on medical-marijuana clinics. That should allow ample time to review the issue and find a solution, perhaps involving changes in the county's land-use ordinances, said 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr, who represents the Santa Ynez Valley. "We are currently working on options to come back to the supervisors for a temporary moratorium and potential ban," said Dianne Black, director of development for county planning and development. "We are taking a look at what other local jurisdictions and other counties have done." County staff is gathering enough information to support a temporary moratorium, which could last as long as a year, while they research how to further regulate dispensaries, Black continued. "All of a sudden the proliferation of dispensaries has alarmed a lot of people. It only takes a few not doing the right thing to cause some problems," Farr said. "I share the same concerns by my fellow board members and the community. Medical marijuana was an initiative passed by voters to use for medical uses, however the problem is in the dispensing of it. The initiative didn't go far enough to get a handle on it, and that's what we have to look at in the land-use ordinance," Farr added. Santa Barbara's city ordinance specifies areas of the city in which pot clinics are permitted, in addition to setting rules on their operation. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which became Section 11362.5 of the California Health and Safety Code, says that "seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes" as long as they have a doctor's prescription, and says doctors can't be punished for prescribing it. But it makes no rules for obtaining pot or establishing dispensaries. Instead, it says the act is "to encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana." Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) organized a community meeting this winter to advocate a county ban on pot clinics. The Coalition to Promote Drug Free Youth, a volunteer group based in Solvang, also supports a ban. It contends that marijuana is addictive, and that allowing medical marijuana dispensaries would give young people more access to the drug. "Limiting access to alcohol, marijuana, tobacco for our youth would reduce underage substance abuse," said Mary Conway of the coalition. Farr said medical marijuana can provide relief for some extremely sick people when no other medicine works for them, but that issue is between patients and their doctors. "One man who spoke at the last meeting said using marijuana was the only source of relief for his mother, who has terminal cancer, which I understand, so we will need time to examine the proper solution," Farr said. At the supervisors' meeting in December, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said medical marijuana dispensaries themselves are attractive targets for criminals because they are seen as a soft target with drugs and money on the premises. However, when asked to provide statistics on crime involving legal dispensaries in Santa Barbara County, the sheriff declined to comment, and sheriff's spokesman Drew Sugars said the county had none. "In terms of law enforcement, we are waiting until the Board of Supervisors makes their final decision," said Sugars said. A Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman said the city's one dispensary that is legally operating under the latest version of its ordinance has not been associated with any crimes. However, a dispensary called Humanity at 715 Bond Ave., which had permission to operate while it upgraded its operation to fit the new ordinance, was shut down after police officers served seven search warrants Jan. 7 at the business and the homes of six employees in Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Lompoc and Santa Maria. According to the Santa Barbara Police Department, an undercover investigation revealed that Humanity sold marijuana to a person who presented a counterfeit medical marijuana recommendation, and his identification was never checked and the medical marijuana recommendation never verified. Illegal dispensaries have also been shut down in various places, including one in Buellton in 2007 and another in Santa Barbara in April 2009. Unless the county adopts new regulations, a marijuana dispensary could open, without any special permits, in any building that is zoned for retail commercial use, according to Kim Probert of the county planning department. The Board of Supervisors meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the Board Hearing Room of the county Administration Building Board at 105 E. Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara. The meeting will also be broadcast live on government access cable channels. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart