Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 Source: Bakersfield Californian, The (CA) Copyright: 2013 The Bakersfield Californian Contact: http://www.bakersfield.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/36 Author: Theo Douglas DISPENSARY OWNERS FRET AS CITY ENACTS MEDICAL POT ORDINANCE After seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota recently, medical marijuana patient association manager Liz Clarke said she has some insight into how the legendary Native American warrior felt about big government. "I don't trust," said Clarke, who is manager of Golden State Cooperative -- and like the city's 23 other dispensaries and associations, works for a business that again was outlawed on Wednesday, when Bakersfield City Council approved an ordinance banning dispensaries. The ordinance updates the city's 2004 resolution on the same topic. It declares dispensaries -- and, by extension, patient associations and any "facility or location where marijuana is made available for medical purposes ... " -- to be "specifically prohibited." While it will not take effect for 30 days, Clark and other dispensary owners say they're feeling very uneasy about how it will be enforced. "You always want things in writing. If we had regulations that said this is how you're supposed to run it I'd feel a lot better," Clarke said. Others agree, saying they think the city may not be sending a clear message on how it will prosecute violators of the ordinance. City Attorney Ginny Gennaro said Friday that patient association and dispensary owners should be well aware that they operate businesses which now are banned within every zone of Bakersfield -- from retail to residential to commercial to ... junkyard. "When I hear things about the medical marijuana groups living in fear and being afraid, you should have been living in fear and being afraid. The resolution in 2004 clearly indicates that medical marijuana storefronts were not permitted. I think that people have been lulled into believing that because the resolution was not used as an enforcement tool, that the city wasn't closing medical marijuana storefronts. Which is false," Gennaro said, pointing out that in some cases, the city worked with other law enforcement agencies to shutter dispensaries. "Medical marijuana storefronts have been closed," Gennaro said. "We have simply found other ways to go about that." Until now. By prohibiting dispensaries and associations according to zoning, the new ordinance opens the door for the city to use its Code Enforcement Department as well as the Police Department and the City Attorney's office to file civil lawsuits to close medical marijuana businesses. The closure process will start with a complaint, Gennaro said. It could be a complaint from a resident or from a city council representative, or someone could pick up the telephone and conceivably complain about all 24 dispensaries and associations in a day's time -- although city officials hope that doesn't happen. Gennaro has said the closures will not be swift. By law, Code Enforcement -- and, possibly, members of the police department -- must determine that the target of a complaint is, in fact, a medical marijuana business. "We don't do civil (cases), so we're not going to be involved in evictions. But we'll assist them with any needs they have, and continue to enforce the law," said Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Williamson, whose department could be tasked with determining whether marijuana is sold -- or traded or given away for a donation, as associations sometimes do -- at a particular location. Unlike dispensaries, which typically sell medical marijuana, patient associations may offer it for a trade or a donation. "I think Code Enforcement will be working more closely, in terms of the zoning ordinance," Williamson said. "We get a little hook in the thing. And I think that's why Ginny wanted to do this," said Bakersfield Chief Code Enforcement Officer Randy Fidler, noting that in some cases, the city's costs in pursuing a civil lawsuit could be tacked onto a dispensary's property taxes. "We're kind of like the hook that gives some leverage against the building owner. The building owner's going to get these people out one way or another. He's going to start the eviction process and then the problem's solved." There's more to it than that, the city attorney said. "Code Enforcement is eventually going to have to rely on a civil complaint to close these businesses down. Yes, Code Enforcement is involved in it. They're going to have to have a hearing," Gennaro said, adding that it may "fall back under my roof. And I have to go file a lawsuit." Meanwhile, patients who use medical marijuana to relieve pain and stimulate their appetites are defending the practice. "My grandmother actually suggested this as an alternative. Lo and behold, I'm walking now," said 25-year-old Bakersfield resident Thomas Albitre, who was wheelchair-bound after he suffered a torn aorta, two broken legs and a broken hip in a motorcycle accident two years ago. Albitre said he was prescribed hydrocodone for the pain, but it didn't help. He couldn't eat, and lost 65 pounds in the ordeal. "I was just a twig with some rods in me," said Albitre, who has metal rods in both legs today but has gained back 45 pounds. "First week I started eating way better. Usually, it feels like I'm walking on pins and needles, but this takes that away. It's a real improvement. I've been to other shops, and it sucks that a few bad apples are going to ruin it for everybody." Clarke, the patient association manager, said she thinks Kern County residents will need a few years to change their attitudes toward medical marijuana. Dispensary owner Nathan Acuna agreed. "That's unfortunate, because of the effect that it's going to have on people who depend on it and are not hurting Bakersfield. They're not violent people," said Acuna, owner of the dispensary Nature's Medicinal. "It does not make sense to us why they did this, but we have to live with it. You're not going to wipe out marijuana in Bakersfield." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom