Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 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: Craig Gustafson

DEMAIO AND FILNER CAN AGREE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Demaio, Filner on Same Page in Push for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Proponents Also Oppose Ordinance, for Different Reasons Both Also 
Stand Against City's Ordinance, but for Vastly Different Reasons

SAN DIEGO -- It's hard to find much common ground between Republican 
Carl DeMaio and Democratic Rep. Bob Filner, but the San Diego mayoral 
candidates appear to be on the same page when it comes to medical 
marijuana -- at least on the surface.

Both candidates say they support the use of marijuana for medical 
purposes and, if elected mayor, promise a solution to a problem that 
has vexed City Hall for years: What regulations should be put in 
place to control marijuana dispensaries within city limits?

Any discussion of dispensaries in San Diego must begin with the April 
2011 ordinance passed by the City Council. It limited dispensaries to 
some commercial and industrial zones and called for cooperatives to 
be at least 600 feet from each other as well as schools, playgrounds, 
libraries, child care and youth facilities, parks and churches. They 
also had to operate as nonprofits, have curtailed business hours and 
hire security guards.

The ordinance was repealed three months later after a successful 
signature drive by medical marijuana supporters, who were upset that 
it would have required every dispensary to close and then move to 
far-flung industrial areas.

Neither DeMaio nor Filner liked the ordinance but for far different reasons.

DeMaio, who voted against the ordinance, said the restrictions on 
dispensaries didn't go far enough.

"The challenge is how do we regulate it? And that's why I have been 
working with the medical marijuana community on a targeted, strict 
ordinance that would allow us to permit certain delivery services and 
dispensaries in the city of San Diego," he said at a recent debate. 
"A limited number, with audits and effective enforcement and 
oversight. It's a thoughtful and balanced approach to what is really 
a controversial issue, but it's an issue that San Diegans, if we are 
thoughtful about it, we can come together and make San Diego a model."

Filner said he didn't like the city ordinance because it put up too 
many bureaucratic hurdles in the way of getting medicine to patients. 
He said he prefers an ordinance akin to the county's plan, which 
requires weekly inspections from the Sheriff's Department.

"I want to make sure it's available for those who are suffering from 
illness, but that neighbors are protected, kids are protected from 
any use or recreational use," Filner said. "I think you can do both. 
You have to have an ordinance which, unlike the one the council 
passed, allows them to occur but be regulated. And I think it was far 
too restrictive."

Enforcement of any city effort to regulate medical marijuana likely 
would have to wait as long as the current federal crackdown continues 
to shutter dispensaries across the state.

DeMaio's comments about working with the medical marijuana community 
on an ordinance drew a rebuke from activists who say he's long 
ignored their outreach efforts.

Eugene Davidovich, a member of the San Diego chapter of Americans for 
Safe Access, said he's lobbied City Hall on the issue for years and 
called DeMaio "the biggest opponent to medical cannabis regulations 
in San Diego."

"When the City Council created an ordinance that was very 
restrictive, that a lot of the patient community was saying was way 
too restrictive, what he did is he actually said that it's not 
restrictive enough," Davidovich said. "He demeaned and demoralized 
and really made patients that attended the City Council meeting feel 
like he is no friend to the issue of medical cannabis."

DeMaio's campaign said he is working with attorney Jeffrey Lake, who 
is representing a medical marijuana patients group suing Rancho 
Mirage over due-process and equal-protection rights, and J.D. Bols, a 
local property manager that San Diego CityBeat said has been sued by 
the city of San Diego for renting space to collectives.

Scott Chipman, co-founder of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, 
which opposes medical marijuana, said he's disappointed that both 
candidates favor enacting an ordinance for dispensaries.

"You should not pursue this city ordinance for marijuana, because we 
just got through spending 2 1/2 years on the issue, and it proved to 
be a very unprofitable time for the City Council," he said. "I would 
not like to see our new mayor pursuing this, and we will advocate 
that he not pursue it."

State voters legalized the use of medical marijuana in 1996. The 
problem for dispensaries in San Diego and many other cities is 
there's no place for them to legally operate and authorities have 
begun to crack down.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith has brought dozens of lawsuits against 
medical marijuana dispensaries over the past year, arguing that they 
violate local zoning laws because the storefront operators are not 
allowed to operate anywhere in the city. Despite the initiative, 
marijuana is still classified as an illegal drug under federal law 
and U.S. attorneys have gone after dispensaries throughout California.

Signature drives to aid marijuana dispensary efforts have failed at 
the state and local levels, which means the issue of what to do next 
will almost certainly hinge on how involved the next mayor wants to 
be with this particular political football.

For now, the two candidates are asked about medical marijuana at 
nearly every debate.

DeMaio often refers to his mother's long and painful death from 
cancer as evidence that he knows exactly why patients and their loved 
ones want access to the drug.

"Had she needed medical marijuana to manage her pain for comfort, 
absolutely I would help her get that," he said. "I really believe 
that if I have an opportunity to craft an ordinance that is very 
targeted, highly regulated with adequate enforcement, that implements 
the will of the voters, then that's something I'm going to be very 
interested in pulling off.

Filner said he's long been a supporter of medicinal marijuana and 
recently sponsored legislation that would allow states that have 
legalized the drug for such purposes to be left alone by federal 
authorities. He urged voters to look beyond DeMaio's words and 
examine his vote against the city ordinance.

"He has said on the campaign trail a whole lot of things that he 
supports, but his votes go the opposite way," Filner said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom