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Indian Valley Record Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011 5A
City nixes medical marijuana dispensaries
Diana Jorgenson
Staff, Writer
djorgenson@plumasnews.com
At the culmination of the
Portola City Council meeting
Jan. 12, the council directed
the city attorney and city
staff to draft an ordinance
banning medical marijuana
clinics within the city for
adoption at an upcoming
meeting.
The agenda item had
attracted a full house of
attendees to city hall, about
30 people. The audience in-
cluded a half-dozen repre-
sentatives of law enforce-
ment, two supervisors and
members of the citizenry.
The council's decision
followed a 90-minute discus-
sion of the subject, the bulk
of which was testimony from
Sheriff Greg Hagwood and
interactive discussion with
him by council members and
audience.
Although District Attorney
David Hollister was unable to
attend, he did submit a three-
page letter on his legal stance
regarding medical marijuana
dispensaries.
City Attorney Steve Gross
gave a brief synopsis in his
introduction to the agenda
item and Hagwood touched
upon several of its points in
his address.
Hagwood began by ap-
plauding the city for creating
a welcoming environment,
an effort that would not be
furthered with the addition
of a medical marijuana dis-
pensary, he thought. He also
believed that it would not
help the drug issues already
facing the city. He termed the
dispensaries "an attractive
nuisance."
"It will invfte and place
you on the radar for not just
local law enforcement's at-
tention, but state and federal
law enforcement's attention
as well," he said.
He was of the opinion that
a dispensary would also draw
criminal attention, and be
a target for thieves. He
said that there had already
been burglaries and beatings
associated with medical
marijuana in the county and
he felt that a dispensary
would add to that problem.
He viewed the offer of
dispensary applicants* to
donate a percentage of
receipts to the city as a
"bribe."
In concluding his remarks
to the council members, he
requested that they draft an
ordinance banning medical
marijuana dispensaries in
the city.
"This is a small community. There is no reason to
have a whole bunch of medication on site and a whole
bunch of money, like the sheriff said. It's not going to
happen. There's not a whole bunch of people."
Dispensary applicant sp0kespers0n
When asked by Mayor Dan
Wilson whether he saw any
difference between medical
marijuana and "street" mari-
juana, Hagwood replied,
"I have no doubt that mari-
juana may very well alleviate
certain symptoms of certain
diseases or treatments for
certain diseases and let me
say this: should I find myself
afflicted with cancer and be-
come subjected to the ravages
of chemotherapy -- or some
other debilitating disease --
and if marijuana alleviated
those horrific symptoms, I
would not want anyone
telling me that I couldn't do
that. The last thing I would
ever do is deny someone
relief."
Both Hagwood and Hollis-
ter (in his letter) felt that the
legally prescribed way for
persons to participate in
the Compassionate Use Act
(CUA) would be to grow the
marijuana themselves. If
they were unable to grow it,
then they should have their
primary caregivers grow it
for them.
"The CUA and the Medical
Marijuana Program Act
define 'primary caregiver' as
the individual designated by
the person exempted under
this section who has consis-
tently assumed responsibility
for the housing, health
or safety of that person,"
Hollister wrote in his letter.
He does not believe that med-
ical marijuana dispensary
personnel fit that definition.
Hagwood and HoUister felt
that current cardholders
were primarily not "seriously
ill" people, and that medical
marijuana masqueraded as
a cover for a criminal
enterprise.
Frank Kortagian objected to
Hagwood calling a medical
marijuana dispensary "a
criminal enterprise" and
Terri Woods submitted her
understanding that marijuana
users were generally happy
and not usually described as
violent.
"It's not an individual who
smokes a joint and gets
happy. That is not the issue,"
Hagwood responded. "It's the
'attractive nuisance' (that a
dispensary presents) and the
hazards associated with it."
He urged the council to
consu]it with taw enforcement
in neighboring counties to
verify his experiences.
Council member Juliana
Mark had conducted an infor-
mal survey of approximately
100 locals and found only
two who wanted to see a
dispensary in Portola.
Citizen Virginia Mitchell
asked council members that
they not only ban medical
marijuana dispensaries with-
in the city, but also prohibit
individual 215 cardholders
from growing plants within
the city.
Wilson invited the dispen-
sary's spokesperson to re-
spond to Hagwood's con-
cerns. He reiterated that
medical marijuana was a
passion with him and he
preferred the plant to pre-
scription drug alternatives.
He stated that no physical
death had ever come from the
ingestion of cannabis find he
felt it was safe. He pointed
out that he also would not
want violence or theft in
conjunction with his shop
and would take steps to avoid
them.
"This is a small commu-
nity. There is no reason to
have a whole bunch of
medication on site and a
whole bunch of money, like
the sheriff said. It's not going
to happen. There's not a
whole bunch of people."
Council member Curt
McBride asked Hagwood how
many 215 cardholders were
in the county. Hagwood
replied that there were
200-300 cardholders in the
county. In a follow-up conver-
sa.tion, he revised that
estimate and thought it might
be as high as 500 cardholders
in the county, and more
than 100 in the city of
Portola.
:There was also discussion
about child accegs/echoing
Hagwood's and Hollister's
concerns about minors re-
ceiving medical marijuana
recommendations.
2"he applicant responded
that he personally believed
that minors should not have
access to marijuana and that
he would not be allowing
underage membership in the
club.
Mark asked Hagwood
whether the local pharmacy
Could carry the product and
would there be those same
issues if it were carried by a
pharmacy.
Hagwood said that there
were strict federal regula-
tions that pharmacies had to
adhere to that would prevent
them from doing so.
Citizen Roy Tiradeau
stated that pharmacies also
required extra security and
in his opinion, "There really
is no difference between
the two." He suggested that
the 200 cardholders alread€
represented individual dis-
pensaries operating in the
city and the proposal to oper-
ate a storefront dispensary
openly and under regulation
seemed a positive step.
"I like things being out in
the open. It's easier to see.
It's easier to monitor and to
control," he said.
At one point, Wilson asked
Hagwood what he would do
that first day if a medical
marijuana dispensary were
to open.
"I would immediately be
consulting with the district
attorney. I would be consult-
ing with neighboring law
enforcement agencies. And I.
Would craft the most effective
plan to address this problem
in my county and in my
community.:'
At'the end of discussion,
Wilson related that he had
talked to the district attorney
earlier that week. He had told
Wilson that if the council
permitted a dispensary to
open, the first thing he would
do would be issue an order to
the sheriff's department to
raid it. Wilson suggested to
the applicant that the tide of
"opinion seemed to be against
him.
"I just want to provide a
service. If they need it here
and want it here, I would like
to help. If it's strongly not
wanted and this is not what
the city of Portola wants,
then I don't want anything to
do with it. Period. I'm not
fighting the sheriff; I don't
want to fight the people. I just
want to help," the applicant
said before bowing out and
shaking hands with council
members.
*Note." The applicants seeking
to establish a medical mari-
juana dispensary in Portola
asked to remain nameless in
this article, although they
were identified in the first ar-
ticle. The partners expressed
no desire to pursue the dispen-
sary idea with the city any fur-
ther and were concerned
about keeping their current
day jobs.
AUDIT, from page 1A
problems to "limited exper-
tise of the personnel involved
in the accounting for ASBs
within the district."
The district has responded
to this finding by contracting
for annual training for all
site principals, ASB advisors
and ASB officers. The district
has also invested in software
that will help track ASB
funds. Finally, the district
has hired a part-time ASB
bookkeeper.
A refreshingly frank Mess-
ner said he had been doing
school audits for a long time
and "I can tell a BS response
and this (PUSD's) isn't one."
He also noted that the ASB
accounts did not constitute a
"material amount of money
from an auditor's point of
view."
Messner said his firm au-
dits about 20 school districts
up and down the state. He
said PCOE/PUSD was in a
"relatively strong position"
compared to similarly sized
districts elsewhere in the
state.
On the county side, he said
the office's small size worked
to its advantage. PCOE also
has "no debt, no fixed-asset
projects going on, modest
ambitions and you're good
stewards of what you do have."
Board member Jonathan
Kusel asked Messner to
clarify what he meant by
"relatively strong."
In the top couple, Messner
responded.
Kusel asked the same ques-
tion about PUSD's status and
followed up with questions
about the district's reserve,
which has been a point of
contention.
According to the audit,
PUSD had a general fund re-.
serve of $7.8 million, or about
30.19 percent.
After clarifying that the
district counts general fund
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and special reserves (for a
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just looks at general fund
reserves, Messner said,
"Nobody has 30 percent.
Similar-sized districts have 5,
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But, he noted, PUSD has
declining enrollment, faces
a possible shift out of Basic
Aid status and is losing some
federal (forest reserve) funds.
Superintendent Glenn
Harris cautioned against
comparing apples to oranges.
"Revenue district (as opposed
to Basic Aid), that's a whole
different ballgame."
"Yes," agreed Messner,
before noting, "You don't
have deficit spending, which
lots of districts do."
Board member Bob Tuerck
asked Messner to compare
apples to apples: how did
PUSD's reserve compare to
similarly situated districts?
"You're higher," Messner
said. "But every situation is
different."
• Harris described PUSD's
Basic Aid status as "volatile."
He said newer Basic Aid
districts had been advised to
keep higher reserves. He also
noted that wealthy districts
could more easily pass a
parcel tax to supplement
revenues.
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Officials take stand
opposed to it before and
I'm opposed to it today
and I will be opposed to it
tomorrow. I will never like
it, support it or endorse it.
Ever."
Greg Hagwood
"Right now, many counties Plumas County Sheriff
are looking at this and they
are looking for ways to
stop it. It starts out with
one dispensary and then
this dispensary gets started
and another dispensary
wants to start somewhere
else and it compounds the
problem. Most counties in "Should the City of Portola,
California (in fact, other or Plumas County, adopt an
counties send me informa- ordinance concerning the
tion which I pass along to sale of marijuana from a
the DA) try to pass ordi- dispensary, such an ordi-
nances to stop it. We really nance does not provide a
don't need this in this defense over and above
county. That's my feeling as the defense provided by
a supervisor." the Compassionate Use Act
Terry Swofford or the Medical Marijuana
Supervisor Program to any criminal
charge. Put plainly, the
Plumas County District
Attorney's Office provides
no assurance that activities
authorized by a Medicinal
Marijuana Dispensary ordi-
nance, but not authorized
by state or federal law, are
permissible. Persons should
"If there is a dispensary in not rely upon pronounce-
this city, my kids will no ments by city or county
longer be able to walk the officials or the enactment
streets of Portola. Period. of a local ordinance as
They will not because I providing any legal or
have seen firsthand (in equitable defense to a
Mendocino County) what it criminal prosecution in the
draws and it does not draw face of contrary state and
anything good. If you need federal laws."
medicinal marijuana you David Hollister
can grow it yourself and if Plumas County District
you can't, someone can Attorney
grow it for you. And that's
for those who really need
it."
Jan Kennedy "1 am in Iockstep with
Supervisor Sheriff Hagwood on this
issue. I have 29 years of
experience and I can tell
[,:i you -- marijuana does kill
: : :.i. ' . when you factor in the
iii: vehicle issue. I know of
U specifics where someone
• under the influence of
marijuana -- whether legal
"Should a dispensary.find or not -- has killed people.
its way into this city or So it does kill and we can't
anywhere in this county, I forget that side of things.
will bring to bear the full We do have an issue of
weight of every resource I people driving under the
can find to combat it. I influence whether they
don't want there to be any have a card or not; killing
mistake on how I feel innocent people, not just
about this and I think I've themselves."
been clear. I'm absolutely Bruce Carpenter
opposed to it. I was Quincy CHP Commander
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