Pubdate: Sat, 11 Aug 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
Author: Tawny Maya McCray

ENCINITAS POT SALES WON'T BE ON BALLOT

ENCINITAS -- Despite getting enough valid signatures to qualify for a
ballot initiative, Encinitas will not be following neighboring North
County cities in placing a medical marijuana initiative on the
November ballot.

The deadline to submit the paperwork was 5 p.m. Friday. The signatures
were verified on Wednesday, but in order for the measure to have
gotten on the ballot, the City Council would have had to call a
special meeting to vote to place the measure on the ballot, then
submitted the paperwork to the county Registrar of Voters by the
Friday deadline.

The council is currently on summer recess and none of the members
arranged for a special meeting this week. Their next regular meeting
is Aug. 15. The council is scheduled to discuss the ordinance then.

According to City Clerk Kathy Hollywood, 6,146 signatures were
submitted. Only 3,742 needed to be filed as valid, she said. The next
opportunity Encinitas has to place the initiative on the ballot would
be the general election of November 2014, Hollywood said.

The ordinance, sponsored by Patient Care Association, 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.

Last month the Del Mar and Solana Beach city councils voted to place
similar initiatives on the November ballot. The Lemon Grove City
Council voted Tuesday to also place the citizens initiative, as well
as its own competing measure, on the ballot.

Medical marijuana exists in a gray area. In 1996, California voters
approved Proposition 215 to allow those with recommendations from
state-licensed physicians to possess and cultivate marijuana for
personal use. The drug, though, continues to be illegal under federal
law.
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