Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jul 2012
Source: News Tribune, The (Tacoma, WA)
Copyright: 2012 Tacoma News, Inc.
Contact: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/letters/submit/
Website: http://www.thenewstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/442
Author: Lewis Kamb

TACOMA COUNCIL OKS NEW ENFORCEMENT PLAN FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Medical pot cultivators, take note: If you don't flaunt it, advertise
it or draw complaints to it, you can grow a therapeutic cannabis
garden in Tacoma.

That's the City Council's intent with a measure unanimously approved
Tuesday that is aimed at enforcing so-called medical cannabis
collective gardens under the city's nuisance code.

"Basically, if you're operating within the provisions of the code, no
one is going to complain," Councilman Joe Lonergan said Tuesday. "And
there would be no reason for enforcement."

The city won't be as permissive of cannabis dispensaries. Such retail
pot pharmacies - which aren't defined in the state's medical cannabis
law - are now explicitly labeled as "a public nuisance per se." That
means they're not permitted under any circumstance.

The council's adopted measure instead adds new code language primarily
shaping enforcement of collective gardens for state-qualified cannabis
patients.

The measure deals with the gardens like the city would a derelict
property or other defined public nuisance. It sets up a framework to
abate, fine or otherwise crack down on any garden that draws
complaints or noticeably runs afoul of a list of new
restrictions.

Among them, gardens can't operate within 600 feet - about one city
block - of a school, day care, drug-rehabilitation center, park,
library or youth center.

They also can't use signs to advertise the sale of cannabis; can't
operate in the open; and can't permit entry to anyone younger than
18.

Gardens that emanate noticeable odors into a public place or that have
patients smoking cannabis in public also would be subject to city
enforcement.

The adopted measure also differentiates between gardens grown for
medical patients and those grown for other purposes - labeling the
latter as unauthorized.

While federal law prohibits marijuana use and possession, Washington
is among 16 states and Washington, D.C., that have laws with some
allowances for its use as medicine. Washington allows up to 10
qualified medical cannabis patients at any time to participate in a
single collective garden, which may contain up to 45 plants and 72
ounces of usable cannabis.

With the city's code dealing with cannabis collectives moving in line
with state law, Tacoma's gardens aren't likely to be targeted by
federal authorities, council members said.

"It's a tight balance we're trying to walk," Councilman Ryan Mello
said.

The measure comes after nearly two years of the city grappling with an
unregulated explosion of medical cannabis ventures. During that time,
the city has raided one dispensary, pursued dozens of license
revocations, sought legislative clarity, enacted a dispensary
moratorium and seated a task force to examine the issue. The
moratorium is set to expire today.

Largely written by City Attorney Elizabeth Pauli, the measure that won
approval Tuesday included amendments from Lonergan and Councilman
Marty Campbell. The revisions eliminated prohibitions in 20 city
zoning districts and reduced the restricted buffers to sensitive areas
from 1,000 to 600 feet.

"We still wanted to include protective space while not blocking out
the entire city," Campbell said.

Jay Berneberg, an attorney who represents more than a dozen local
cannabis dispensaries, called the adopted plan "absolutely better"
than the original measure.

"It's not perfect," Berneberg said Tuesday. "=C2=85 (But) with this, it
appears the City Council wants patients to have access to medical
cannabis, and I appreciate that."

Still unclear is exactly how the city will enforce the dispensary
issue. At last count, about 35 dispensaries operated in Tacoma, Pauli
said.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax said he's working with Pauli and Police
Chief Don Ramsdell to draft a new enforcement strategy, which will be
in place once the revised nuisance code takes effect in 10 days. The
plan is expected to incorporate elements of voter-approved Proposition
1, which directed Tacoma officials to make cannabis-related offenses
the city's lowest enforcement priority.

As any medical cannabis nuisance code violations will be considered
"civil infractions," it is unlikely police will seek to raid any
existing dispensary, Pauli added.

Some council members hope that under the new rules, legitimate
dispensary owners simply will change their business models to
collectives that comply to code.

"I think there's room for dispensaries to come into conformity,"
Campbell said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt