Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jun 2010
Source: Daily Sound (Santa Barbara, CA)
Copyright: 2010 Daily Sound
Contact: http://www.thedailysound.com/contact/Letters-to-the-editor
Website: http://www.thedailysound.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4995
Author: Eric Lindberg

MARIJUANA REGULATIONS GET GREEN LIGHT

If the sign of a good compromise is general discontent  on all sides,
Santa Barbara city leaders may have  finally reached an accord on the
hazy issue of medical  marijuana dispensaries.

With only one councilmember voting in dissent, the  council passed a
set of revised regulations yesterday  that further restrict the
operation of marijuana shops  in town. Under the new rules, only three
dispensaries  will be permitted and they must operate as true
nonprofit collectives, among other restrictions.

In order to garner the necessary five votes to pass the  new
regulations, the council agreed to vote next week  to place an
outright ban of dispensaries on the  November ballot at a cost of $40,000.

"I think it's the best solution to get some final  closure on this,"
Mayor Helene Schneider said.

Despite reaching the deal after a series of heated  hearings during
recent months, city leaders continued  to spar over the merits of city
regulations versus a  ban on dispensaries.

Councilmember Dale Francisco reiterated a common  message he has
hammered home throughout the raging  debate on medical marijuana shops
- -- specifically that  state law only allows cultivation and possession
of  marijuana by legitimate patients and their primary  caregivers.

"It has never allowed, nor contemplated, retail  marijuana sales," he
said, arguing that the city could  have solved the issue long ago by
taking the  "common-sense solution" of an outright ban.

In customary form, Councilmember Das Williams fired his  own barbs at
the concept of a ban, noting that other  locales that have prohibited
storefront operations are  being inundated by marijuana delivery services.

"A ban will chase collectives back out into the  neighborhoods," he
said, holding up several newspapers  from neighboring regions with
advertisements for  marijuana deliveries. "Whatever the material
intention  of a ban is, it's not working in Ventura."

However, he said the compromise appears to be the  "least wrong"
option for the city to pursue.

Under the new laws, which will go into effect 30 days  after being
officially adopted next week, dispensary  operators would be allowed
to distribute cannabis to  qualified patients and primary caregivers
who live  within Santa Barbara County.

Storefront operators would have to keep membership and  financial
records, and must meet strict nonprofit  standards. In addition to
establishing buffer zones  around schools and parks, the regulations
would  prohibit shops from opening within 500 feet of major  drug and
alcohol recovery centers.

Along with other storefronts that had been  "grandfathered in" under
prior laws, two city-permitted  dispensaries currently operating on
the Eastside would  have to relocate or close within six months.

Sefton Graham, who operates one of those dispensaries  -- the
Greenlight Collective, 631 Olive St. -- said  legitimate patients will
be robbed of safe access to  their medication as a result.

"It's a de facto ban," he said, noting that it took him  a year and
three months to receive his current permit.  "We would move if we
thought there was somewhere to  go."

City officials had previously planned to pare down the  number of
dispensaries operating on the Eastside  through attrition, as only one
storefront will be  allowed in any given geographical area of the city
  under the new laws. But leaders changed that regulation  as part of
their last-minute horse trading, instead  requiring the two
dispensaries to reapply for a permit.

Graham said he operates as a true nonprofit with a  focus on
compassion instead of revenues, and has never  had any issues with
local law enforcement.

In voting against the compromise yesterday,  Councilmember Grant House
cited the impact of the  regulations on Graham and the operators of
the Green  Well, at 500 N. Milpas St., and argued the laws would
penalize the two dispensaries that have been working in  good faith
with the city. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D