Pubdate: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 Source: San Bernardino Sun (CA) Copyright: 2011 Los Angeles Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.sbsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1417 Author: Ryan Hagen Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Dispensaries MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES NOT BANNED YET The Planning Commission decided Thursday to push back a proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries on unincorporated county land for at least two weeks, while two commissioners work with county staff to develop what they say would be a more balanced presentation of the issue. Commissioners also said they needed time to digest nearly five hours of comments from the public - most of them from medical marijuana patients who said using it has dramatically increased their quality of life without the side effects of other drugs they had been prescribed. Other speakers supported the staff conclusion that the county's moratorium on new marijuana dispensaries should be upgraded to a ban, based on what they said was the immorality of using it and statistics suggesting crime increased around dispensaries in other counties. The Planning Commission will reconsider the issue Feb. 17, then choose whether to recommend the ban to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom