CA: Medical-Pot Dispensary Allowed to Operate

[motorhead]

US CA: Medical-Pot Dispensary Allowed to Operate
by Joan Osterwalder, The Press-Enterprise, (24 Feb 2006) Press-Enterprise California
Palm Desert's lone medical-marijuana dispensary can stay open under an agreement reached Thursday after it was threatened with losing its business license.

The city notified CannaHelp owner Stacy Hochanadel on Feb. 9 that it would consider revoking his license because the operation has been linked to criminal activity and possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law, among other reasons.

CannaHelp opened before the city enacted a temporary ban on dispensaries in December. But police said they were having a hard time verifying whether people possess marijuana for medical purposes. In one instance, a CannaHelp customer tried to sell marijuana to teenagers, police said.

The council was scheduled to hold a revocation hearing Thursday, but at the beginning of the meeting Mayor Jim Ferguson announced an agreement had been reached.

Hochanadel's attorney, James Warner, said CannaHelp can continue to operate as long as its roughly 480 patients obtain optional county-issued ID cards. So far, about 10 percent of patients have the cards, he said. A tentative 30-day deadline was set for CannaHelp to comply with the new requirement, he said.

Several medical-marijuana patients held a rally at the council chambers Thursday. Alan Layton, 53, of La Quinta said he is a CannaHelp patient and prefers going to a dispensary than getting marijuana on the street.

"It definitely provides an air of legitimacy," he said.

Medical marijuana is legal in California since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996.

The law allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to transport and use marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma or chronic pain.

[Solidly-here]

Hurray for Palm Springs!

One more Cannabis Buyers Club is allowed to (continue to) exist. This is pretty good, because Palm Springs (and Palm Desert) are predominantly Republican.

When they were trying to open the CannaHelp, the City Council was reasonable: "Help-out some of the sick people who have come to the Desert to retire."

Now that the California ID cards (the get-out-of-Jail-Free cards) are available, all their customers need to do is Get One. It's great. A Cop asks you: "Why do have this half-pound of Marijuana?" And you answer, by showing him your ID card. He smiles, and says: "OK, have a nice day, you and your Pot."

I still do NOT have one of the new cards, because only a few California Counties have started the program, but I'm glad that their County has done it. Power to the Dope-smokers.

[Donmeka]

yup i read it in the paper and saw it on the news the day it happened. i live in palm springs and i will be getting my card this summer once i return home. The mayor of palm desert spoke and said that no one has complained about the dispensary saying that this does not mean that they agree with it, just that they(the citizens) dont have a problem with it.


we have a very high MJ smoking population and cannahelp has about 400 or so clients. we also have a club that is located in Palm Springs, behind the downtown strip called C.A.P.S. they havent had a problem yet. chers to Cannahelp tho! and hope to see more dispensaries pop up in riverside county!

[motorhead]

US CA: Lake Elsinore Could Ban Marijuana Dispensaries
by Jose Carvajal, Staff Writer, (26 Feb 2006) North County Times California
LAKE ELSINORE ---- Lake Elsinore could soon join a growing list of California cities banning places that dispense medical marijuana
even though it doesn't yet have any operating within its borders.

Citing a host of public safety concerns, Lake Elsinore police Chief Louis Fetherolf is recommending that the City Council adopt an ordinance prohibiting any dispensaries from opening in the city.

The council is expected to look at a potential ordinance at its 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Cultural Center, 183 N. Main St.

The proposed ordinance states that its intent is "to promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the residents and businesses within the city" and makes illegal all marijuana dispensaries, which it defines as any facility or location where marijuana is made available or distributed.

Fetherolf said other cities have reported that there are a bevy of public safety hazards posed by the dispensaries.

Some the examples he cited included increased loitering around the dispensaries, as well as marijuana being smoked around them. Robberies and burglaries are taking place, he said, and, in some cases, the drug is being sold illegally within them to people who don't have prescriptions for medicinal marijuana.

"Some communities have had more problems than I think they want to deal with," Fetherolf said.

And because there is a contradiction between the state and federal laws when it comes to medical marijuana, Fetherolf said, the city should wait until the discrepancies are resolved.

The state's 9-year-old Compassionate Use Act, which was approved by voters, allows medicinal marijuana, while federal laws say all marijuana is illegal and it has no medicinal value.

Councilman Bob Schiffner agreed Friday with Fetherolf. He said that though he is not inclined to lean either way on the medicinal marijuana issue, he does think it's probably best to hold off on allowing the dispensaries.

"I do think we need to get our laws together," he said.

If it adopts the ordinance, Lake Elsinore would join several California cities in banning marijuana dispensaries. Earlier this month, San Marcos became the first city in San Diego County to do so.

Last February, Murrieta adopted its own ordinance, while Temecula set a moratorium several months before on dispensaries while it studies the issue.

Hilary McQuie, a spokeswoman for the medicinal marijuana group Americans for Safe Access, said that if Lake Elsinore joined those cities in prohibiting dispensaries, it would be going against the will of state voters who overwhelmingly approved medicinal marijuana.

She also said the ordinance would force people who are prescribed the drug to turn to the black market to get it.

"Would they prefer all those patients get their medicine through the illegal market or would they prefer they get it through a safe, legal and known way?" she asked.


For a state that has had legal medical pot since '96 there still seems to be alot of debate and tension surrounding this issue.moto

[motorhead]

US CA: City Bans Pot Dispensaries, But New Ordinance Leaves
by Jose Carvajal, Staff Writer, (01 Mar 2006) North County Times California
LAKE ELSINORE ---- Medicinal marijuana dispensaries will be banned from setting up in the city, the City Council decided Tuesday while making it clear that it will not target groups of patients who pool their resources to grow or obtain the drug.

The city does not have any dispensaries now operating within its borders. The only two in the county are in Palm Desert and Palm Springs.

After the council voted 5-0 to adopt the ordinance Tuesday, medicinal marijuana advocates at the meeting had mixed reaction.

On one hand, they said, the city was wise in leaving alone the patient groups known as collectives or cooperatives. On the other hand, they said, medicinal marijuana dispensaries are the only places where some patients can get it easily and safely.

"It's a compromise," said Lake Elsinore resident Stephen Roper, who said he has AIDS and uses medicinal marijuana. "It allows us to do what we have to do."

"It's a start," said Temecula resident LaVonne Victor, who said she uses the drug to treat her multiple sclerosis. "At least they're willing to work with us."

The council considered the ordinance at the request of Lake Elsinore police Chief Louis Fetherolf, who told members that colleagues in places where medicinal marijuana dispensaries are operating reported that there were a bevy of public safety issues concerning the facilities.

Among them, he said, are that marijuana is being sold illegally within them, that marijuana is being smoked in the areas surrounding them and that robberies are taking place in and around the dispensaries.

He also said that, because marijuana was approved by California voters for medicinal purposes but remains an illegal drug in the eyes of the federal government, police officers and the city are put in a position where they have to break one law to uphold another.

In 1996, state voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which allows those with prescriptions from their doctors to obtain or grow small amounts of marijuana for medicinal purposes. But that contradicts federal laws, which say all marijuana is illegal and that it has not medicinal value.

Until the discrepancy between the state and federal laws is solved, Fetherolf said, it would be best for the city to prohibit dispensaries within its borders.

"It takes us out of the unenviable position of enforcing one in violation of the other," he said.

The council appeared to agree with that line of thinking, though members, and ultimately Fetherolf, agreed that they did not want to go after the collectives and cooperatives.

Roper was one of those who addressed the council about the medicinal marijuana groups.

"This is life sustaining," he said. "It's not about the law. It's about living. Do what you can to keep me alive."

The advocates presented the council language from a temporary ban on medicinal marijuana dispensaries Temecula passed in 2004 that made it clear that its ordinance was not aimed at the groups.

Lake Elsinore adopted similar language and became the third Southwest County city behind Temecula and Murrieta to place a ban or at least a temporary moratorium on dispensaries. Last month, San Marcos became the first San Diego County to do the same.