Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jan 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 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

SD TO ENFORCE MEDPOT RULES, FOR NOW

Reversal Seen As Interim Measure Until New Ordinance Can Be Enacted

SAN DIEGO - The city won't drop pending cases against medical 
marijuana dispensaries as Mayor Bob Filner ordered earlier this month 
but will instead maintain the status quo until the mayor introduces 
an ordinance to regulate the businesses within the next 30 days.

The City Council voted 7-0 in closed session Tuesday on that strategy 
with Filner's agreement. Councilman Kevin Faulconer was absent. The 
move ensures that the city will continue to enforce its zoning laws - 
which currently don't allow for dispensaries - and keeps in place a 
prosecutorial tool that prevents new dispensaries from opening 
throughout the city.

In a joint statement, the mayor, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and 
council President Todd Gloria said a zoning ordinance similar to the 
one adopted by the council in 2011 would be brought before the 
council for discussion purposes. That measure, which was repealed 
after medical pot advocates launched a successful signature drive to 
trigger a public vote, 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.

Filner renewed the dispensary debate Jan. 8 when he told a group of 
medical marijuana advocates that he would intimidate the city 
attorney into backing off the prosecutions. Goldsmith responded the 
next day by informing Filner that he could halt prosecutions by using 
his strong-mayor powers to direct police and code enforcement 
officers to stop forwarding cases to the City Attorney's Office. 
Filner issued that decree the next day.

At the time, Goldsmith said about 100 prosecutions had already been 
completed against dispensaries and 11 were still active and would be 
dropped at Filner's direction. That won't happen now with the 
council's decision Tuesday to proceed with those enforcement actions.

Filner pledged to work quickly to get an ordinance in place.

"I will be working very hard in the next 30 days to bring an 
ordinance to the City Council that ensures that the zoning law allows 
for reasonable regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the 
city of San Diego," he said. "As I've said before, I want those who 
legitimately need medical marijuana for the relief of pain to have 
access to it legally. That is the compassionate thing to do."

Goldsmith added, "I appreciate the mayor's leadership in moving the 
city toward a solution on medical marijuana dispensaries. Our office 
looks forward to working with the mayor and City Council on an 
ordinance. In the meantime, we will maintain the status quo through 
enforcement of current laws."

Gloria called Tuesday's action "a critical step forward for patients 
seeking safe access and for neighborhoods concerned about the impacts 
of dispensaries."

Eugene Davidovich, coordinator for the San Diego chapter of Americans 
for Safe Access, said the pro-medical marijuana group is working on a 
report to give to the City Council on a path forward that the entire 
community can support. As for continuing the prosecutions, he called 
it a waste of taxpayer money.

"We should be devoting all of those resources on a zoning ordinance," 
Davidovich said. "Patients need their medicine. I think it is 
unfortunate the city is moving ahead with the lawsuits."

The decision to continue the prosecutions is likely a tactical move. 
The city risked being sued by the roughly 100 dispensaries that had 
already been shuttered because they could argue that some of the 
businesses were being treated differently had the 11 active cases been dropped.

Even if the city adopts an ordinance that allows dispensaries, it 
still may not provide a path for businesses to reopen. Federal 
prosecutors have issued warnings that marijuana sales and 
distribution is illegal under federal law and property owners face 
criminal prosecution and potential loss of their property if the 
outlets do not close.

In an interview with the U-T San Diego's editorial published Sunday, 
U.S Attorney Laura Duffy said her responsibility to enforce federal 
law remains unchanged no matter what Filner or the city does.

"That can't be nullified by the passage of any state law or any 
mayoral directive," she said. "If there are individuals who are 
engaging in 'for profit' retail sales of marijuana then we are going 
to investigate those individuals or entities and decide whether 
action is appropriate. So we're going to keep on that path."

More than 200 medical marijuana collectives have been closed in San 
Diego and Imperial counties since Duffy and her colleagues announces 
in 2011 sweeping enforcement actions aimed at distributors in 
California. The legal limbo for dispensaries dates back to 1996 when 
state voters approved an initiative to allow people with 
recommendations from state-licensed physicians to possess and 
cultivate marijuana for personal use.

Staff writer Mark Walker contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom