Pubdate: Mon, 23 Mar 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 POT SHOP OK PROVED CHALLENGING More Turbulence Expected Following First Approval, but Consensus Is City's Regulation Well on Its Way The opening of San Diego's first authorized medical marijuana dispensary on Wednesday in an Otay Mesa strip mall was preceded by many years of legal and political twists and turns. From federal raids to a referendum to former Mayor Bob Filner throwing everyone a curve ball, the pathway to last week's milestone wasn't simple. Nearly everyone also agrees that there's more turbulence on the horizon, with medical marijuana supporters complaining the city's ordinance is too strict to allow enough dispensaries, and critics saying it's not strict enough when it comes to regulating potency and keeping pot away from teens. There is a general consensus that San Diego has overcome a long list of hurdles and is on its way to having a well-regulated group of dispensaries that will create less community backlash than the many unauthorized dispensaries the city's been struggling to close for years. Three more authorized dispensaries have been approved and are expected to open before summer, with roughly a dozen more expected to get the green light in coming months. "I think what we've got achieves a balance between providing a legal way for qualified patients to access needed medicine, while at the same time really protecting neighborhoods," City Councilman Todd Gloria said. "But all the years of back and forth were incredibly frustrating." While the controversy dates to state voters allowing the use of medical marijuana by passing Proposition 215 in 1996, large numbers of unauthorized dispensaries didn't start to open in San Diego until 2005 and 2006. The idea of the city passing an ordinance legalizing them gained momentum politically in early 2009, when one of newly elected President Barack Obama's first moves was announcing his administration wouldn't enforce the federal marijuana ban on dispensary operators who follow state and local laws. So the city created a task force in October 2009 to study how San Diego should regulate dispensaries. Two months later, the panel recommended a relatively loose set of regulations that would have allowed dispensaries in nearly all commercial and industrial zones as long as they were far enough away from churches, schools and some other sensitive uses. "It would have opened up a much, much broader range of locations than what was ultimately adopted," said Alex Kreit, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and chairman of the task force. "It's a great thing to have this regulated and controlled rather than what was going on before, but the current ordinance won't allow as many dispensaries as there probably should be." The council in April 2011 approved an initial dispensary ordinance that was stricter than the task force recommendations but looser than what eventually became law three years later. A group called Citizens for Patient Rights, which was made up primarily of people operating unauthorized dispensaries, gathered enough signatures to force the council to repeal the measure - the option they chose - or allow a public vote. Jessica McElfresh, an attorney who's represented many local dispensary operators, said the referendum was driven partly by a perception the restrictions were too onerous and partly by frustration that every illegal dispensary would be forced to close, even if it was in an appropriate spot under the new rules. Kreit said the referendum, in retrospect, was a "miscalculation" by dispensary owners. "The referendum left a bad taste in the council's mouth because they had stuck their necks out politically," he said. He suggested it was based on a belief that killing the legislation would allow a continuation of the status quo, where more than 100 unregulated dispensaries were operating in a wide variety of zones across the city. But that's not how things played out, because city and federal officials cracked down later that year on unauthorized dispensaries. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith began using the city's land-use regulations to shut dispensaries down based on them not being allowed in any city zones. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy persuaded dozens of dispensaries to shut down with strongly worded letters, and raided others that didn't comply. Instead of prompting dispensary operators to embrace a new city ordinance, the crackdown made things seem almost hopeless, McElfresh said. "It really sapped the momentum for cooperating with the city," she said. When Bob Filner was elected mayor in fall 2012, one of his first moves was to order city staff to "stop the crackdown on marijuana dispensaries," virtually eliminating any incentive dispensary operators had to embrace new legislation. "That was definitely a curve ball," McElfresh said. Momentum revived in fall 2013, when city enforcement resumed after Filner's resignation amid sexual harassment allegations. Shortly afterward, federal officials announced they were softening their stance as momentum behind legalizing marijuana continued to gain steam across the nation. Twenty-three states allow the sale of medical marijuana and four others - Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska - allow the sale of recreational pot. The city eventually passed the current ordinance in February 2014 and began accepting applications from potential dispensary operators in late April. The law went beyond the original task force recommendations by limiting dispensaries to a small number of industrial zones, prohibiting them from opening within 1,000 feet of each other and capping the number in each City Council district at four. David Blair, operator of the Otay dispensary, said last week that he spent about $400,000 on lawyers, fees and other expenses, and he complained the process took way too long. But Blair also said he's happy the regulations are strict enough to give consumers confidence. Scott Chipman, leader of anti-marijuana group San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, disagreed. "It's disingenuous to think any of the permitted pot shops are going to operate differently than any of the over 200 pot shops that have been closed down in the last few years," he said. He also complained that the city doesn't restrict which products can be sold aggressively enough. "They can sell any strength marijuana," he said. "They can still sell edibles wrapped up like candies, cookies and well-known foods, enticing youth use and creating serious risks of overdose." Councilman Gloria agreed the city probably needs to adopt restriction on edibles and fine tune its rules. "We're going to have to keep a close eye on this and watch for lessons learned and course correct as appropriate," he said. "But we're in position now where we can come into compliance with Prop. 215 and see how it works out." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom