Pubdate: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2015 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: David Garrick SAN DIEGO COUNCIL OKS MEDICAL POT DISPENSARY RESTRICTIONS No Regulations Set for Deliveries or Smokeless Products SAN DIEGO - The San Diego City Council approved tighter operating restrictions for medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday but stopped short of regulating deliveries or creating stricter rules for smokeless products such as edibles and hash oil. The changes, which include requiring employee background checks and testing of products for mold and pesticides, come as the city's first legal dispensaries are expected to open this spring. Council members, who voted 8-1 to amend the regulations, said they plan to make additional revisions later this year if any unexpected problems arise. "I anticipate there will be more discussion and more changes down the road as San Diego experiences these operations actually open legally," Councilwoman Marti Emerald said. Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, whose beach-area district is home to the largest number of proposed dispensaries, cast the lone vote against the restrictions after describing them as too vague. Several local residents also criticized the amended restrictions, with some complaining they don't go far enough and others saying the city shouldn't be allowing legal dispensaries in the first place. "This just puts the city of San Diego in the business of drug dealing," said Scott Chipman, leader of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods. City officials said they can't regulate deliveries, despite their desire to do so, based on advice from the City Attorney's Office that such a move could violate state and federal laws. They had hoped to require drivers making deliveries to have a county-issued identification card, originate all deliveries at the cooperative and carry only marijuana labeled for a specific patient. Emerald, who helped craft the regulations as chairman of the council's public safety committee, said the city is also unable to require dispensaries to reveal the potency of each product because no standards for potency have been set by the state or federal governments. So the restrictions only "encourage" dispensaries to list potency. Emerald said she hopes the city can partner with dispensary operators on a set of potency standards. Resident Nancy Logan said potency ratings are particularly crucial for edibles because they come with a delayed high, making over-consumption more likely. "These brownies and cookies say nothing, and they take a long time to take effect, longer than smoking the marijuana," Logan said. Steven Lubell, an attorney representing a dispensary proposed in Pacific Beach, agreed that products should be labeled for potency to shield patients, many of whom have compromised immune systems, from as much risk as possible. Other critics said many edibles are labeled to make them more attractive to children. But there wasn't support from a majority of the council to ban edibles, with Councilwoman Myrtle Cole calling such a move premature. "I believe they work for certain patients," she said. Terry Best, representing Americans for Safe Access, said extracts, such as hash oil, should remain legal because they allow some patients to receive the medicinal benefits of cannabis without losing their sobriety, which she called a significantly positive step. "If you ban extracts, you're banning the progress we are making," she said. The amendments also create a list of fees dispensaries must pay for the city to cover all of its costs to regulate them. Tuesday's changes amend restrictions that were adopted in 2011 by the council but that never took effect because a referendum delayed a set of companion land-use restrictions governing where dispensaries can open. The land-use restrictions were eventually approved by the council in winter 2014. Four proposed dispensaries are scheduled for final approvals by the Planning Commission this winter, with nearly three dozen more at earlier stages in the approval pipeline. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom