OCEANSIDE - A group that represents several medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego is trying to overturn Oceanside's longstanding ban on such shops by putting an initiative on the city's November ballot. Chris Siegel, president of the Association of Cannabis Professionals, said the organization plans to gather signatures on a petition to qualify a measure for the ballot, after hearing from patients and others who want dispensaries in their city. "Oceanside is important because it is one of the largest, most centrally located cities in North County," said Siegel. "It has a large and active patient base that has been vocal about its desire for access. We want these patients, their supporters and the general public to have a chance to have a voice on this important policy." [continues 471 words]
OCEANSIDE - Oceanside residents who need medical marijuana will be able to have it delivered to their homes under a new ordinance approved by a split City Council on Wednesday. Pot dispensaries are still banned in the city, and deliveries will only be allowed from legally established businesses outside of Oceanside, officials said. The delivery services will have to apply for a city business license, and provide the names and driver's licenses of all drivers, as well as proof of insurance and vehicle registration. [continues 596 words]
Medical Marijuana Patients' Stories Nudge Officials to Seek Rules for Such a Move. OCEANSIDE - In an unexpected turn, Oceanside officials agreed this week to move toward allowing licensed medical marijuana businesses to deliver within the city. The City Council signaled the move while discussing state regulations - - set to take effect this year - allowing the licensing of medical marijuana businesses in cities that haven't expressly banned them. By a 4-1 vote, lawmakers adopted an ordinance outlawing dispensaries, but asked city staff to come up with regulations that would permit delivery services. [continues 454 words]
Nature's Leaf Collective in Oceanside Agrees to Shut Doors by Friday After More Than a Year of Fighting Against City Oceanside - A medical marijuana dispensary that Oceanside has been trying to shut down for more than a year finally agreed to close this week, city officials said. The Nature's Leaf Collective on Vista Way opened early last year without a permit. It later applied for a permit but was denied because the city's zoning regulations don't list marijuana dispensaries as an approved use and are therefore not allowed, officials said. [continues 405 words]
Council Rejects Request to Change Zoning Rules, Citing Fears of Crime Oceanside - The Oceanside City Council unanimously voted Wednesday to deny a medical marijuana dispensary's request that the city change its zoning rules to allow pot shops to operate in town. Council members said the shops aren't a good fit for the community and could lead to crime and more drug use by young people. "I believe it's just not right for us," said Deputy Mayor Esther Sanchez. "It's just too easy to get a letter from a doctor saying that you can use marijuana for medical purposes." [continues 479 words]
Medical Pot Users Claim Discrimination Patients Cry Foul Over City's Refusal to Allow Dispensaries, Decision to Sue Three of Them Medical marijuana users in Vista say the city is discriminating against them by refusing to allow dispensaries in town and suing three such businesses that were operating without a license. The patients being served by one of the dispensaries include a 23-year-old woman who suffers from cerebral palsy; a 23-year-old former Marine who served in Afghanistan and has post-traumatic stress disorder; and a 48-year-old man who had polio as a child and has had to walk with crutches all his life. [continues 693 words]
The medical marijuana cooperative that closed its doors in Fallbrook last year is expected to reopen next month in a new East County location, shop's owner Bob Riedel said. Mother Earth's Alternative Healing Cooperative Inc., a medical marijuana dispensary, was closed Feb. 5, 2010, because it didn't have a permit to operate in San Diego County. The new cooperative is expected to be the first to open in the unincorporated part of the county under the strict rules adopted by the Board of Supervisors in June 2010. [continues 567 words]
Upstart Institute Aims To Serve A Growing Medical Marijuana Industry In a new twist on higher learning, a school that opened in Mira Mesa earlier this year aims to teach students how to open and operate medical marijuana collectives. The school, which opened six months ago, is the brainchild of Nicole Scott, a self-described soccer mom from Del Mar. Scott, 46, said she got the idea for the school, called the Legal Cannabis Institute, last year when she was trying to figure out what it would take to start a collective. [continues 832 words]
Revised Proposal Addresses Only Land Use Provisions; Other Rules to Follow The county's Planning Commission on Friday will consider a medical marijuana dispensary ordinance that is markedly stripped down from the draft released in March. Officials with the county's Department of Planning and Land Use said they decided to break up the earlier, much-criticized proposal into smaller pieces. The department's new proposal, released Friday, addresses only the zoning elements of the ordinance, including where the dispensaries can be located. [continues 416 words]
Proposal Would Violate Patient Privacy Rules, Activists Say The county's proposed medical marijuana dispensary ordinance would violate patient privacy laws because it opens patient lists and other records to law enforcement, medical marijuana advocates and civil rights groups say. County officials released a draft of the document in March. It was heavily criticized by patient advocacy groups and others, including Americans for Safe Access, the Drug Policy Alliance and the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego. Since the criticisms started to pour in, county officials have refused to answer questions about the ordinance, including whether any medical professionals helped draft it. [continues 903 words]
Sheriff's Department Would Have Access to Patient Lists, Other Records Proposed new rules would make it tough to open medical marijuana dispensaries anywhere in unincorporated San Diego County, advocates for cannabis-using patients said. Under a proposed county ordinance released for public review earlier this month, medical marijuana dispensaries, or collectives, would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of residential parcels, schools, playgrounds, parks, churches, recreational centers and other marijuana dispensaries. That rule would eliminate all but a few areas in the unincorporated areas of the county, according to county documents. [continues 529 words]
Advocates Say Fear, Cost Keep Many From Applying San Diego County has received 260 applications for medical marijuana ID cards since it launched the program in July, according to county health officials. Nearly half the applications were from people ages 31-50, according to data provided by the county. A quarter of the applicants lived in North County, most of them in Carlsbad. All of the applicants paid $166 for the card, which identifies them as legitimate medical marijuana patients entitled to carry up to 8 ounces of pot. [continues 1079 words]
Decision Could Have Widespread Significance, Attorney Says In a legal blow to medical marijuana advocates, a state court ruled last week that local governments can ban medical marijuana dispensaries from setting up shop in their jurisdictions. The state's Second District Court of Appeal said in its decision that the city of Claremont in Los Angeles County could ban dispensaries without violating the state's medical marijuana laws. Those laws include the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, which legalized marijuana for medical use, and the 2004 Medical Marijuana Program Act, which lets people cultivate marijuana collectively. [continues 539 words]
Medicinal Pot Advocates Say They Fear County Could Ban Dispensaries If the city of Anaheim successfully defends its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in court, will San Diego County follow suit? That's what some medical marijuana activists say they fear and what some critics of the dispensaries say they hope will happen. In 2006, the Board of Supervisors filed a lawsuit to overturn the state's 1996 medical marijuana law. The supervisors unsuccessfully challenged the law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear an appeal in May. [continues 918 words]
Opponents Say Costs of Legalizing Marijuana Are Too High Depending on which side you take, marijuana either is a miracle plant with a bad rap or a gateway drug to a life of crime. And even as local governments struggle to reconcile their regulations with the state's medical marijuana law and the federal prohibition against pot, pro-marijuana advocates are taking their efforts one step beyond: legalizing it. There are two ballot initiatives and one bill pending in Sacramento that would legalize marijuana for personal use. Advocates say legalizing and taxing the drug would help the cash-starved state and free law enforcement to focus on violent crimes. [continues 1070 words]
Cities, County Use Temporary Bans While Writing New Regs James Stacy operates his 300-member medical marijuana collective out of a nondescript building between a strip mall and a used car dealership in North County. The marijuana is kept in small glass jars locked inside a small room. There is no advertising outside the building, except for a simple banner with the collective's name. "It's no place to hang out," Stacy said. "This is like an old-time pharmacy." [continues 1263 words]
Supervisors Also Will Consider Banning Dispensaries San Diego County could begin accepting applications for medical marijuana ID cards by July 6 if the Board of Supervisors next week approves a plan to charge up to $166 for each card. The county fought the state's medical marijuana law for years until the case hit a legal dead end last month, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from San Diego and San Bernardino counties. If the plan is approved at Tuesday's meeting, the county will beginning the process of implementing the state law. [continues 534 words]
Supervisors May Issue ID Cards As Supreme Court Denies Appeal The San Diego County Board of Supervisors' case against medical marijuana reached a legal dead-end Monday. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from San Diego and San Bernardino counties, which sought a ruling on whether California's medical marijuana law trumps the federal controlled-substances law banning the drug's use. In reaction to the court's decision, the county's lead attorney said he will recommend the board approve giving the ID cards to patients at its meeting on June 16. [continues 751 words]
SAN DIEGO -- Attorneys for San Diego and San Bernardino counties argued in court Tuesday that the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law should be overturned because it conflicts with federal drug laws. Attorneys for patients, the American Civil Liberties Union and the state attorney general's office disagreed, saying the California law does not conflict with federal drug laws because patients do not intend to use the drug illegally. The hearing before the 4th District Court of Appeal was part of an effort by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to invalidate the law, which gives patients access to medical marijuana. The courtroom was packed with media and observers from both sides of the issue. [continues 461 words]
ID Program OK'd, Will Start Taking Applicants July 6 SAN DIEGO ---- After approving a medical marijuana ID program for the county, the Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that they will tackle an even thornier issue: deciding under what circumstances it is legal to sell pot for medicinal purposes. At their meeting, supervisors Dianne Jacob and Bill Horn proposed asking the county's attorney, John Sansone, to draft an ordinance making for-profit, medical marijuana dispensaries illegal in the unincorporated areas of the county. [continues 511 words]
