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6A Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 Indian Valley Record
Diana Jorgenson currently is that it's not three separate acts: Proposi- prohibit medical marijuana
Portola Editor allowed," Gross summarized, tion 215, the Compassionate dispensaries in the city; con-
djorgenson@plumasnews.com Portola's municipalcode of Use Act; Senate Bill 420,duct community discussion
allowable commercial usesdefining terms more rigor- (in any format or time period
The city of Portola recently is several pages long andously and outlining a volun- they felt necessary); or pro-
received an inquiry about the listings are quite specific, be- tary identification card pro- ceed, in which case the city
process to establish a medical ginning with adult-oriented gram; and Assembly Bill would need to draft an ordi-
marijuana dispensary within businesses and ending with 2650, which prohibited dis- nance and consider a number
the city limits and brought it specialized training and stor- pensaries within a 600-foot of issues in the process.
to the last city council meet- age. Uses such as a methadone radius of schools. Council members learned
jng to begin discussion on the clinic are in between. In addition to the pages of there were no dispensaries
subject. A medical marijuana dis- Health and Safety Codes, the currently located in Plumas
The council spent nearly an pensary could share a similar California Attorney General County and to the best of the
hour talking to potential appli- mission with a drug store (an has issued guidelines that staff's knowledge, there are
cants Jason Ingram and Brian approved commercial use) or summarize applicable law,also no county ordinances on
Jones and their attorney Ken could fall under the category define terms relating to the storefront dispensaries.
Brock and members of the au- as a medical support service laws, and offer guidelines The closest dispensaries
dience, before referring the (also a category) but there is for patients and caregivers, are allegedly in Truckee and
matter for further discussion no specific listihg for med-: as well as collectives and Coifax.
at its Jan. 12 meeting, ical marijuana Collectives,', Cooperatives. As part of his introduction
City Attorney Steve Gross which were 0nly authorized Summarizing the history of and legal summary, Gross
introduced the item and said in 1996, with the passage of l medical marijuana use, Gross mentioned the city of Ana-
the purpose was to begin com- the Compassionate Use Act. said cities and counties had a helm prohibited dispensaries
munity discussion. He said Council members received variety of responses to the on the basis they are in oppo-
currently city ordinances the full body of legislation legislation and had created a sition to federal law.
read that ifa particular use is pertaining to medical marl- range of ordinances. State courts at the lower
not listed, it is not allowed, juana, about a dozen pages of He presented the council level and in Superior Court
"The city's position legislation comprised of with three options: decide to ruled that it was not a valid
reason to reject dispensaries.
Ricky Ross asked if having
a medical marijuana dispen-
sary could impact federal
funding and grants to the
city.
Gross replied: "The attorney
general did issue an enforce-
ment memorandum. I don't
have it with me but basically,
the attorney general of the
United States has said, 'Look,
it's not the intent of the federal
government to go out and
prosecute folks who are other-
wise in compliance with state
laws allowing the medical use
of marijuana.' I'm paraphras-
ing quite a bit but that's on
the enforcement level. As far
as funding is concerned, it's
anybody's guess."
Ken Brock, attorney for
Ingram and Jones, intro-
duced himself as a corporate
health law attorney, working
primarily in Sacramento and
the northern Bay Area.
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"These guys are paying me
because they want to make
sure that everything is done
by the book. They're very
committed to doing this."
He commended the city
for having the discussion, be-
cause the Legislature had left
it up to cities and counties to
sort out details.
Brock said cities have re-
acted by ignoring the issue;
banning or placing a morato-
rium on dispensaries; or reg-
ulating and permitting' the
dispensary.
He described the first
option and moratoria as
"stopgap"' measures; bans
are subject to legal challenge
-- he expected to challenge
Placer County's ban as
poorly written.
He said the only real solu-
tion was the third. "It allows
the city or county to regulate
and control the activity and
the way the facility operates
in order to protect the health,
safety and welfare of the
citizens who live within that
jurisdiction."
He added that the business
actually represents a source
of tax revenue for the city
and could create jobs at the
small business level.
"Third," Brock said, "and
this is most important from
my perspective, it provides a
way for people who need
cannabis for medical purposes
-- cancer, AIDS and other
seriously ill people -- it pro-
vides them with a way to
obtain a product. A product
which has proven medical
benefits to the extent that the
AMA has reversed its 73-year
old position on the use of
cannabis for medicinal pur-
poses. (It allows patients)
to obtain that product in an
environment that is safe,
controlled, regulated."
Brock has submitted a
sample ordinance to the city
planner that addressed some
of the issues he felt needed to
be addressed.
Ingram added the collec-
tive is a nonprofit and it
planned to donate 10 percent
of its profits bac. to the city
that he hoped would benefit
kids and perhaps programs
to help residents using
hard drugs like meth and
coke and to clean up the
community.
The pair hail from Doyle
and are currently employed
at the Sierra Army Depot.
"But we're currently look-
ing to put roots down in
Plumas. It's a lot more
beautiful here than it is out
there," said Ingram.
Residents had questions re-
garding proximity to bars;
why they had chosen Plumas;
crime statistics in neighbor-
hoods with dispensaries; and
whether there was sufficient
market base for such an
enterprise.
Ingram admitted their re-
search was slender, based
mostly on activities in Clear
Lake where "they have really
embraced the idea."' He said
they have multiple dispen-
saries that are doing well
within the community,
Kevin Taylor asked if they
would be working with the
sheriff.
Brock said local law en-
forcement frequently asks
dispensaries to appoint a
point person, accessible to
law enforcement 24 hours a
day. He added his clients
would waive warrant re-
quirements -- "The doors are
open," he said.
Medical marijuana users
submit their physician's rec-
ommendations, which are
verified.
Another resident doubted
the demographics and the
chances for business success,
to which Ingram replied:
"I'm willing to risk my future
on it."
Council member John
Larrieu summed up the dis-
cussion. "This is something
we need to get input from the
community on. I wouldn't
want to act on anything at all
until I've talked to some of the
citizens. What do the people
think we should be doing?"
The council decided to
continue discussion at the
next meeting. Gross knew
the sheriff also wanted to
offer his viewpoint at a
future meeting, because he
couldn't attend the December
meeting.
i
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