Pubdate: Thu, 10 May 2012
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2012 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Roxana Kopetman

PATIENTS ASK GARDEN GROVE TO KEEP POT DISPENSARIES OPEN

GARDEN GROVE - Outside the Civic Center, supporters of medical 
marijuana waving signs were greeted with repeated loud, honking 
sounds of approval from passing motorists. Inside the council 
chambers, the reception was a silent one.

More than two dozen supporters of medical marijuana arrived Tuesday 
evening to stage a demonstration before addressing the City Council 
about the city's recent talks with federal authorities on a possible 
crackdown on the pot clinics.

"Let the DEA know to stay out of Garden Grove," Richard Gould told the council.

Local resident Brooke James, 32, asked the council to "continue to 
allow us safe access here in Garden Grove."

Marla James, director of Orange County Americans for Safe Access, 
said her group wants to work cooperatively with Garden Grove 
officials. James suggested Garden Grove could emulate an initiative 
proposed for the Santa Ana ballot: a measure that would establish 
certain guidelines and impose a 2 percent sales tax to benefit the 
city's general fund.

Residents from throughout Orange County and Long Beach who came to 
show their support for medical marijuana said in interviews that they 
face serious medical conditions alleviated by the use of marijuana.

"I've seen how medical marijuana has prolonged many people's lives," 
Johnson, who heads a group called Committee of Patients, said prior 
to the council meeting.

Like many other communities in California, Garden Grove has been 
struggling with the contradiction between federal law, which bans 
marijuana, and state law, which has allowed the medical use of the 
hemp plant since voters approved it in 1996.

About four years ago, Garden Grove banned medical marijuana 
dispensaries. But they opened nonetheless. In June of last year, the 
City Council passed an emergency ordinance requiring all dispensaries 
in the city to register. The idea was to regulate the dispensaries 
and determine where they would be allowed to open, pushing them away 
from schools and other sensitive areas into more industrial zoning.

But the issue got more complicated when a number of lawsuits were 
filed across Southern California and federal officials announced a 
crackdown on California's pot clinics. In January, Garden Grove 
officials suspended any further registration. That same month, 
federal officials raided and closed down dispensaries in Costa Mesa 
following requests from officials in that city for the federal agents' help.

How many dispensaries have opened in Garden Grove is not clear. 
Police Chief Kevin Raney has said he believes the number is 
approximately 60. At a previous council meeting, a number of 
residents complained that was too many. The clinics, they said, are 
creating problems. A couple of council members indicated Tuesday 
night they believe the number of clinics to be closer to 90.

Councilman Kris Beard said the city was heading in the right 
direction with the registration of clinics and the move to zone them 
away from schools and homes. A definitive answer on how the city 
should proceed won't come, he said, until the courts make their final 
decisions.

Councilman Bruce Broadwater called the clinics "a farce" that cater 
to young people and not the truly ill. "I certainly don't want to be 
the marijuana capital of Orange County or the United States," he 
said. "I think it's despicable what's being done."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom