Pubdate: Thu, 19 May 2011
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2011 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360
Author: Janet O'Neill

TEHAMA COUNTY DELAYS VOTE ON POT DISPENSARIES

Board Hopes Either to Ban or Regulate

RED BLUFF -- Trying to avoid a deadlock while seeking more time to get
questions answered, the Tehama County Planning Commission on Thursday
delayed a vote on regulating medical marijuana dispensaries until June
9.

The Board of Supervisors aims to get a permanent ordinance either
banning dispensaries or regulating them in place before September,
when a nonrenewable moratorium expires. Any vote on the two drafts by
the commission is advisory.

"I would be leaning toward the ban ordinance," panel member Lynn
DeFreece said toward the end of Thursday's session. Citing the
county's limited resources, he said it would be "extremely difficult"
to monitor compliance.

Commissioners Kim Tipton and Tom Gano both said they were leaning
toward regulation rather than an outright ban, Tipton with "some
amendments" to the draft and Gano "with some reservations."

Chairman Delbert David said they were looking "probably at 2-2" with
Commissioner Don Jones absent, and favored postponing a decision until
all five members were present.

Under both draft laws, a dispensary is defined as a group of 10 or
more people who provide or receive medical cannabis, either in
storefronts or mobile retail outlets. Proposed rules would confine
them to designated land in industrial zones.

The rules further limit dispensaries to one per 30,000 residents in
the unincorporated areas of the county, meaning only one would be
allowed with the current population.

David expressed concerns regarding "chain of custody" and how the
cannabis could be traced from where it's grown to the consumer.
Assistant County Counsel Arthur Wylene explained state rules require
"a closed loop" within a collective, and that record-keeping
requirements in the proposed ordinance partially addressed that.

Tipton asked whether a grown-in-Tehama provision could be
added.

"I'm generally leery of things that look like local protectionism,"
Wylene said, noting that counties aren't supposed to regulate commerce.

Richard Clapp, who said he was speaking as a property owner and
taxpayer, encouraged commissioners to opt for some sort of regulation
rather than a ban. So did Paul Ellis, a disabled Red Bluff resident
who said he's also a medical marijuana patient.

"I like the idea of a dispensary and it can be regulated," Ellis said,
noting that it was safer than having to obtain cannabis "on the street."

But Kathy and Ron Nelson opposed allowing dispensaries.

"Dispensary to me is a grocery store," Ron Nelson said. "You're
opening up the door to everything in the world."

The June meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the board chambers on Oak Street.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.