Pubdate: Thu, 31 Aug 2017 Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 2017 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: Tim Sheehan LEGAL MARIJUANA: FRESNO CITY COUNCIL PASSES BAN ON POT BUSINESSES When it comes to buying pot for pleasure, Fresno won't be on the recreational map Retail marijuana dispensaries and other businesses related to recreational use of marijuana will be barred from setting up shop in Fresno after the City Council voted 4-3 Thursday to prohibit such establishments. Proposition 64, approved by California voters in November 2016, legalized the possession and recreational use of marijuana. It also legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use starting Jan. 1, 2018 -- but gave cities and counties the authority to regulate or prohibit commercial cannabis operations in their jurisdictions. Thursday's vote is the latest step in efforts backed by District 6 Councilman Garry Bredefeld and Mayor Lee Brand to quash the possibility of dispensaries before the start of 2018, when the state plans to start licensing dispensaries for non-medical marijuana to operate in the state. Council members Bredefeld, Steve Brandau, Paul Caprioglio and Luis Chavez voted for the commercial prohibition, while Council President Clint Olivier and council members Esmeralda Soria and Oliver Baines voted no. The vote was identical to an initial vote June 22 to begin the process of amending the Fresno Municipal Code. This was officially the first reading of the ban. The code amendment still must return to the City Council for a second reading and final approval, most likely at the council's next meeting Sept. 21. A second package of Fresno's proposed cannabis regulations is awaiting final approval after the first vote in June. That ordinance would cap at six the number of plants that can be cultivated for personal use, in addition to regulating where and how marijuana can be grown by private residents. A second reading of that ordinance has been beset by delays and by political wrangling among council members. Prior to the Thursday's vote on the ban, the council approved a proposal by Olivier to seek a consultant to help the city study issues related to marijuana and Proposition 64. Issues include other cities are dealing with medicinal and recreational cannabis use, sales and cultivation, and the potential for revenue from licensing and taxing cultivation, sales. Soria, Baines and Caprioglio voted for Olivier's measure, which calls for the mayor to appoint a three-member council subcommittee to steer the consultant-selection process. Bredefeld and Brandau voted against the proposal. Brand gave his mayoral support to Olivier. "We disagree on a ban," Brand said Thursday, "but he's asking for a consultant. This is not a question of whether you're for or against a ban. aE& I think we need to examine a lot of areas that we simply don't have answers for." "This is a huge issue across the state, (and) billions of dollars are being spent," Brand added. "We need to at least take a look and see what the implications are." Olivier said he believes a consultant is necessary to so the council can avoid voting for a dispensary ban based on "fiction." "There is legislation before this body that is based on panic and one guy's fear," Olivier said of Bredefeld's ban. "A consultant would have helped us on this and would have drafted a better piece of legislation than what we have right now." The medical use of marijuana has been allowed in California since 1996, when voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. But prior to Proposition 64, recreational use of pot remained outlawed. Notwithstanding the two ballot measures, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt