Pubdate: Thu, 20 Mar 2014
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Lisa J. Huriash
Page: 1A

CITIES PLANNING AHEAD FOR LEGALIZED POT

Grow House Regulation and Other Concerns Crop Up As Medical Marijuana
Vote Looms

Several South Florida cities are preparing for the day when Florida
legalizes marijuana for medical use.

No matter that the ballot initiative won't go before voters until
November: Pembroke Park recently became among the first to consider
how to regulate growhouses.

"This is a problem that every city is going to have to solve," said
Town Manager Bob Levy. "It's better to be ahead of the game than
lagging behind."

While many cities in Broward and Palm Beach counties are waiting to
see the outcome of the state referendum, Lauderhill, Pembroke Park and
Sunrise have recently begun to plan for pot.

In Lauderhill, City Hall staff has begun to look into how legalized
marijuana "will affect health care costs and internal policies," said
city spokeswoman Leslie Johnson.

"We need to start looking at how it will affect the workplace," she
said. "It's so new we don't really know what's coming."

In Sunrise, the city is gathering information so it can deal with
issues that may come up. "We have been looking at the effects of
potential medical marijuana legislation on our employees and
operations, and on the services we provide," said spokeswoman
Christine Pfeffer.

Florida voters will decide Nov. 4 whether marijuana should be
legalized, when the medical marijuana question appears as Amendment 2
on the statewide ballot.

State lawmakers are pushing their own bills, such as legalizing a
noneuphoric version of the drug called "Charlotte's Web" that could
help some epileptic children with seizures.

In Lauderhill and Sunrise, their plans are about being
proactive.

In Pembroke Park, town planner Michael Miller said he received a phone
call from a businessman who wanted to know how the local zoning laws
would dictate where he could lease a warehouse to grow weed.

"He said he wanted to get his foot in the door and there would be more
people like him so if it passes they wouldn't have the lag time of
finding the warehouse to lease," Miller said. Miller checked the laws,
and Pembroke Park didn't have anything that would address the issue.

Now, Miller said he'll start researching what cities in states that
have already legalized marijuana have done about zoning and local
regulation after Pembroke Park commissioners unanimously agreed to
explore legalizing and regulating marijuana.

Medical marijuana use is already legal in 20 states and the District
of Columbia, said Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy
Project which lobbies legislators to legalize marijuana. Only Colorado
and Washington have made adult marijuana use legal for any purpose,
including recreational use, he said. Miami criminal defense attorney
Paul Petruzzi, who launched a Facebook page for Florida Marijuana
Licensing, said it's too early for businessmen to start calling
cities. He said city zoning regulations will come later, similar to
regulating a bar.

Pembroke Park officials said they want to be ready. "Do you want [a
grow house] near a school, near a park, what are the implications of
who would go to these places and whether it's appropriate to be in
close proximity to other uses," Miller said. "We may find nothing or
we may find some cities are already doing things."

Miller didn't write down the man's name or contact information. But he
expects to get more calls like it: "There will certainly be a lot of
requests for these things. [The town's action is] preemptive.

"Pembroke Park could be a leader or they could choose not to do
anything."

He'll present his findings at a town workshop at 3 p.m. April 2.
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MAP posted-by: Matt