Pubdate: Wed, 08 Aug 2012
Source: North County Times (Escondido, CA)
Copyright: 2012 North County Times
Contact: http://www.nctimes.com/app/forms/letters/index.php
Website: http://www.nctimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1080
Author: Barbara Henry

COUNTY CERTIFIES SIGNATURES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

San Diego County elections workers declared Wednesday afternoon that
an Encinitas medical marijuana initiative has enough valid signatures
to go to a public vote.

Still, city voters probably won't see the measure until 2014 ---- the
next general election in Encinitas.

That's because the paperwork deadline to get the item on this
November's general election ballot is 5 p.m. Friday, and there's a lot
that would need to happen between now and then.

The City Council would need to hold a special meeting to vote to put
the item on the ballot, and then the required paperwork would need to
be submitted to the county elections office, City Clerk Kathy
Hollywood said Wednesday.

Mayor Jerome Stocks said there are no plans for a special council
meeting this week to discuss the proposed initiative, which aims to
lift the city's ban on dispensaries that can distribute marijuana to
medical patients.

"Nobody on the City Council is demanding a special meeting ... to deal
with this issue," he said late Wednesday afternoon, adding that he
expects the council will debate the issue at its next regular meeting
Aug. 15 --- five days after the county elections deadline.

Proponents collected 5,900 signatures and needed only 3,742 of them to
be deemed valid by the county.

The president of the Patient Care Association ---- the group that's
backing the initiative ---- said he's still hopeful the measure will
make it on the Encinitas ballot this year. The association is pushing
the same initiative in four other cities in San Diego County.

Group President James Schmachtenberger said he knew the certification
of the Encinitas signatures was "extraordinarily close" to the
county's deadline, but noted that Lemon Grove is making it.

Lemon Grove's City Council voted Tuesday night to put the citizens'
group initiative, plus its own medical marijuana measure, on the
ballot, he said.

Medical marijuana dispensary initiatives also will appear on the Nov.
6 ballots in Del Mar and Solana Beach.

Supporters expect to submit signatures they've collected in La Mesa
later this week, but that proposed initiative definitely won't make
the November ballot, Schmachtenberger said.

The proposed initiative in Encinitas, and the ones in other cities,
would create a set of regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries,
including operating hours. Those operating hours would be limited to 8
a.m. to 10 p.m., and the dispensaries couldn't locate within 600 feet
of a school or playground.

If a prospective dispensary meets these restrictions, it could qualify
for a city permit allowing it to open, the Encinitas initiative states.

Stocks said Wednesday that he has concerns about the legality of the
proposed initiative, given that marijuana use is illegal under federal
law. He said he felt no pressure to rush to get the item on this
fall's ballot by having a special council meeting.

"It's not my problem they didn't turn in their signatures in timely
manner," he said.

Initiative supporters submitted their signatures in mid-July. At the
time, they said they knew ballot deadline was fast-approaching, but
thought the council could vote on the item this Wednesday.

But even that meeting would have needed to be a special meeting
because the council is on summer recess this week.

The city clerk said Wednesday that the next election option for the
initiative would be the general election of November 2014.

The city isn't obligated to hold a special election because the
proposed initiative does not contain a request for a special election,
she said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt