Pubdate: Wed, 12 Mar 2014
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Note: Does not publish letters from outside their circulation area.
Author: Lewis Griswold

CONWAY BILL TO PUSH MARIJUANA STORES FARTHER FROM SCHOOLS DIES IN COMMITTEE

A bill that would increase the distance between medical marijuana
dispensaries and schools has been blocked by the Assembly Public
Safety Committee, Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway said Tuesday.

Conway, R-Tulare, is the author of AB1588, which would widen from 600
feet to 1,000 feet the radius from a public or private school that a
dispensary may operate.

In a party-line vote Tuesday, the committee voted against sending the
bill to the Appropriations Committee for a review of its fiscal impact
on the state, Conway's office said. The committee staff could not be
reached for comment Tuesday, but a bill analysis states, "localities
are free to establish their own regulations" about setting distance
limits from schools.

The bill also would require a minimum $500 fine for anyone caught
growing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school. Medical marijuana
users with proper medical marijuana identification cards and their
personal primary caregivers would be exempt.

Except for medical marijuana, it's a felony to grow marijuana in
California.

Conway's bill, introduced last month, followed reports in The Bee last
year of busts near schools as growers moved out of mountain hideaways
to plant marijuana on the Valley floor. The growers claimed their
sites comply with the state's medical marijuana law.

In mid-September, 400 fully budded plants ready for harvest were found
within 75 yards of Coarsegold Elementary in Madera County, and the
same month a large growing operation was found near Willow
International Community College Center and within a quarter mile of
Clovis Unified's Riverview Elementary School.

"Recently, there have been several large drug busts of thousands of
marijuana plants worth millions of dollars confiscated by police
within plain sight of elementary schools," Conway said in a statement.
"My legislation would have helped law enforcement address this serious
and growing problem."
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