Pubdate: Tue, 18 Mar 2014
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Register-Guard
Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362
Author: Saul Hubbard

JUST SAYING 'NO'

Local Governments Eye Moratoriums on Medical Pot

With a May 1 deadline looming, several Lane County local governments
are springing into action to discuss and possibly enact moratoriums on
new medical marijuana retailers, known as "dispensaries."

The Florence City Council unanimously approved a one-year dispensary
ban at its meeting Monday night. Today, the Lane County Board of
Commissioners will hold a brief initial discussion on a similar ban
for the unincorporated parts of the county, while the Springfield City
Council will discuss one at its meeting next Monday.

City leaders in Veneta also are weighing a "timeout" on dispensaries
while they consider possible zoning restrictions for siting the facilities.

Eugene's City Council hasn't scheduled any action on the issue
yet.

Meanwhile, state officials confirmed Monday that they will start
approving licenses later this week for the prospective dispensary
owners who submitted applications two weeks ago. Once approved,
dispensaries can open for business right away.

At least 289 applications for dispensaries, including 39 in Lane
County, have been submitted to the state, although the state has not
disclosed their exact locations. Under state law, the state eventually
can release only the addresses of dispensaries that waive their
confidentiality rights. However, many applicants are already
publicizing that they expect to open soon. The marijuana-focused
website www.leafly.com lists 10 dispensaries in the Eugene-Springfield
area that expect to open once they receive a state permit, or have
already opened while their application is pending.

Under pressure from local government representatives who wanted the
power to ban dispensaries outright, state lawmakers passed a
compromise bill this month that allows cities and counties to enact
moratoriums until May 2015, provided they act by May 1. The bill,
Senate Bill 1531, also clarified that local governments can enact
"time, place and manner" restrictions on dispensary operations. While
Gov. John Kitzhaber has yet to sign the legislation, his spokeswoman
said Monday that he is expected to.

The tight timeline has sent cities and counties scrambling to
determine what, if anything, they want to do.

"It's an issue that all city councils are dealing with right now,"
Veneta City Administrator Ric Ingham said Monday. "There's not a lot
of certainty in this arena."

In Florence, councilors voted 5-0 Monday in favor of a temporary ban
there. Councilors Brian Jagoe and Joshua Greene said the city should
look at ways to make sure such businesses can be established in a
beneficial way and in appropriate locations, City Recorder Kelli Weese
said.

Lane County officials say they don't know yet of any dispensary
applications in the unincorporated parts of the county. But county
leaders appear to be leaning toward enacting a moratorium, potentially
as soon as April 1 after a scheduled public hearing on the issue.

Pat Farr, the chairman of the county board, said that for rural
residents a possible moratorium is a "public safety issue."

"In remote areas, it would be difficult for the county sheriff's
office to respond quickly" to a crime at a dispensary, he said. "I
personally don't know that the facilities would lead to a higher
likelihood of crime, but that perception is out there."

In Springfield, where at least two applications for dispensaries have
been made, city staff is recommending that the council enact a
one-year moratorium. The council will hold an initial work session on
the issue next Monday.

Springfield Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery said the recommendation
is based partly on the fact that Oregon voters could approve a ballot
measure this November legalizing recreational marijuana.

"It's one thing to come up with reasonable limitations" for medical
marijuana dispensaries, he said. "But a lot of that work would have to
be thrown out" if recreational marijuana is legalized.

That's why city staff is recommending taking a "wait-and-see approach"
to dispensaries, he said.

Ingham said Veneta leaders are primarily concerned that a dispensary
could open near the city's library, its youth skatepark or a
residential area.

To make the necessary zoning changes to the city's municipal code to
prevent that would take several months, Ingham said, so city leaders
could potentially approve a shorter moratorium until those changes are
enacted.

"We're not a community that's talking about outright prohibition," he
said. "There's an interest in slowing this down just to make sure
(dispensaries) aren't in an area that we don't want them to be."

Veneta officials know of one dispensary application so far, Ingham
said, though its location wouldn't be near city leaders' areas of concerns.

For prospective dispensary owners, the uncertainty surrounding what
local officials will do is nerve-wracking, given that they've
typically invested thousands of dollars in application fees and
state-mandated security systems, and signed leases for space for their
businesses.

Bee Young, 43, sold her house in Portland in February to finance her
dispensary on Main Street in Springfield. She opened her business,
Wickit Weedery, earlier this month before receiving her state license.

"This was all a plunge for everyone who did it," she said. "I'm not
embarrassed about opening a business to help people who are in pain
and sick. I'm trying to be a responsible business person."

For years, medical marijuana patients unable to grow their own plants
were "forced to the black market to get their medicine" because of how
the state program worked, Young said. Local elected officials who
block dispensaries now are simply perpetuating that problem, she added.

"Marijuana is not suddenly going to stop being sold in their
communities; people will just go back to the black market," she said.

Walt Moser said he won't open his dispensary, called the Oregon
Medical Marijuana Pharmacy and also located on Main Street in
Springfield, until he gets his state license.

Prior to March 1, the facility was used for about four months as a
connection point to allow external growers and patients to conduct
transactions - what's known as a medical marijuana club - but not for
his business to make any direct sales, Moser said.

"It was mostly a marketing thing to get the word out about our plans,"
he said. Moser said the dispensary is going to be only one part of an
alternative health hub, called the People's Wellness Center, that also
includes a natural herbalist, a chiropractor and a massage therapist.

He said he's "completely in the dark" about what Springfield leaders
are going to do when it comes to regulating dispensaries.

"There are a lot of pot-slinging shops popping up and I support (local
elected officials) monitoring those closely," he said. "But my
facility is very different. ... I'd just invite city officials to come
by so they can see what we're about."

Adam Jacques, 35, closed his five-year-old marijuana club - the Oregon
Microgrowery Guild - in the Whiteaker district in Eugene on March 1
until he gets his dispensary license.

Jacques said he has "mild concerns" that Eugene could enact a
moratorium, but that's mostly because he's "sitting on a $40,000
investment" rather than anything city leaders have said.

Jacques said that the dispensary regulations imposed by the state -
including requirements to install security systems, to test marijuana
products, and to keep records of every transaction - are "pretty good."

"If that's what it takes to be given legitimacy in the eyes of the
public, I'm happy to comply," he said.

Jacques added that he's also willing to work "through legitimate
concerns about public safety" with city officials.

"But places like Florence that are saying 'no' just to say 'no,' I
have more of a problem with that," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt