Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jun 2012
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Tawny Maya McCray

DM FACES MEASURE ON MEDICAL POT

Advocates Gather Signatures to Allow Dispensaries in the City; City 
Council Decides to Study the Issue

Del Mar - After gathering almost double the number of signatures 
required to place an initiative on the November ballot, a group 
dedicated to improving access to medical marijuana asked the City 
Council last week to adopt an ordinance allowing for marijuana 
dispensaries in the city while also regulating and taxing them.

Council members, faced with the choice to either adopt the ordinance 
as written, put the ordinance on the ballot or order a report on the 
measure, opted for the report.

The council now can choose to either adopt the ordinance within 10 
days of receiving the report, which will be issued by July 13, or 
order an election.

"This is an area of law that is in a state of flux and developing, 
and I think we want the most comprehensive report possible covering 
all aspects of it," Mayor Carl Hilliard said Monday.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are not currently allowed in Del Mar 
under city zoning codes. A judge last year ordered the city's lone 
collective closed.

The proposed compassionate use dispensary regulation and taxation 
ordinance would limit storefront dispensaries to commercial and 
industrial areas and levy a 2.5 percent tax on retail transactions. 
It also would establish security measures and hours of operation and 
require licensing by existing city departments.

The purpose of the ordinance, sponsored by Patient Care Association, 
is "to ensure safe access to medical cannabis in (Del Mar) for 
qualified patients and their primary caregivers."

James Schmachtenberger, president of the association, said he wanted 
the council to immediately adopt the ordinance so patients wouldn't 
have to wait another five months for access to medical marijuana.

He said if it makes the ballot, he believes Del Mar residents will 
likely approve it.

Some community members expressed concerns at the meeting about a 
dispensary. "Marijuana is an illegal drug. This is a serious issue, 
especially among our young people," Barbara Gordon said. "Marijuana 
being sold out of a storefront does give teens a perception that it's 
harmless, which it's not."

Cynara Velasquez, with Citizen's for Patients Rights, said more than 
500 signatures were gathered. Only 298 were necessary to qualify the 
ballot measure. Velasquez said the group also is working to qualify 
ballot measures in Solana Beach, Encinitas, La Mesa and Lemon Grove. 
A recent effort in San Diego failed to get the necessary number of 
signatures to qualify.

Del Mar Councilman Don Mosier, a former physician, said he believes 
there are appropriate compassionate uses of marijuana, but said 
accepting the initiative would put the city in violation of federal 
law. Californians voted in 1996 to allow medical marijuana use. 
However, it is still banned under federal law.

"Del Mar depends upon federal grants," he said. "Were we to accept 
this initiative as written we'd be in violation of federal law and 
unable to accept those federal grants."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom