A SHIFT IN VALUES

For the first time, since Californians authorized the use of medical
marijuana, Watsonville is being asked to come to grips with the
implications of the 10-year-old law.

The issue comes to a town that for more than 20 years hasn't even
allowed tattoo artists to operate except under the direction of a physician.

Now city officials have received inquiries from parties interested in
opening not only a medical marijuana dispensary, but a tattoo parlor
and a head shop to sell pot paraphernalia as well.

No doubt about it, Watsonville's changing, in part, as Councilman
Oscar Rios noted during a discussion about the question, because
hundreds of homes built in recent years have attracted new residents
with higher incomes. That in turn is drawing entrepreneurs hoping to
cash in on the economic growth.

For longtime residents, however, the change until now has hit home
most on increasingly congested city streets.

But proposals to open a pot pharmacy here point to the potential for
a shift in values. After all, Watsonville, with its Latino majority
and that community's emphasis on traditional cultural values, isn't
Santa Cruz, where in 2003, six of seven council members participated
in a pot giveaway to patients on the steps of city hall in response
to a federal raid on a local medical marijuana farm.

Tuesday, the City Council imposed a 45-day moratorium on the
establishment of outlets selling medical pot, paraphernalia and
tattoos. The idea is to give the city time to craft rules related to
such businesses, of which the most controversial will certainly be
the aspects dealing marijuana use.

Councilman Antonio Rivas, arguing that the city has enough problems
with drugs and alcohol as it is, called for the strictest possible rules.

Rios sees the 45-day delay as a chance for community conversation.

We agree. There's enough gray in the medical marijuana issue to paint
a small battleship.

We have long supported the rights of the sick to have access to a
drug that may ease their pain. But we've also acknowledged the
awkward nature of the 1996 law, which has put the state into conflict
with federal law and opened a window for the healthy to secure an
otherwise illegal substance.

Zach Friend, Santa Cruz police spokesman, said despite the best
efforts of the management of the medical marijuana dispensary in his
city, prescription pot has ended up in the hands of those without medical need.

Though voters statewide overwhelmingly approved the medical marijuana
law, we believe it's up to Watsonville residents to decide whether a
pot clinic is appropriate for their town. We encourage them to take
advantage of this opportunity to discuss the issues -- and to inform
their elected officials of their wishes.