HEMET WANTS TO KEEP OUT MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

HEMET - Alarmed by recent queries about the possibility of opening
medical-marijuana dispensaries, City Hall is rushing an ordinance
that would ban such types of establishments inside the city limits.

The City Council, at a study session Tuesday, reviewed policies in
neighboring cities and directed staff to draft an ordinance that
council members could soon approve.

"I don't think I'm ready to set up drug houses," Councilman Eric
McBride said at the study session.

He added that if marijuana is truly legal for medical use, it should
be sold in pharmacies.

The council discussion was prompted when Planning Director Richard
Masyczek said that in the last month, there have been three "fairly
serious" queries to the department about requirements for setting up
medical-marijuana dispensaries.

Advocates of medical marijuana use say the dispensaries provide a
valuable service to patients and should not be banned in Hemet.

"It's certainly a hardship issue for patients," said Kris Hermes,
spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based advocacy
group for medical-marijuana use and research. Hermes said patients
who have no access locally to marijuana for medical use have to
travel long distances to get it.

"There are people in Hemet, just like people in LA and Oakland, who
need them," he said by phone.

Dege Coutee, president of Patient Advocacy Network, a Los
Angeles-based medical-marijuana advocacy group, said the council
needs to be better educated about the issue.

"These types of responses are based on the ignorance of the council
between a medical recommendation and a prescription," she said by
phone. "Just because they choose to ban an activity doesn't mean
there's no need for it."

Hemet is one of at least seven Inland cities to discuss some kind of
ordinance banning medical-marijuana dispensaries in the past year.
Norco, Fontana and Redlands are also on that list. Earlier this year,
federal drug enforcement authorities raided or closed four Inland
marijuana dispensaries -- in Corona, Perris, Riverside and Norco.

State law approved by voters in 1996 allows people suffering from
AIDS-related complications, cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and
other diseases to use cannabis to relieve pain. Patients must first
get a doctor's recommendation and can possess no more than 8 ounces
of marijuana and six mature plants.

But marijuana use remains a federal crime, and federal officials view
state and local laws as irrelevant.

At the Hemet council study session, Masyczek said the proponents of
the potential medical-marijuana dispensaries did not identify
themselves but inquired in detail about what steps are needed to set
up such dispensaries.

Masyczek said he has determined that such establishments were not
permitted in Hemet but said that the City Council should adopt an
ordinance specifically prohibiting them.

"The clear intent is to prohibit marijuana dispensaries," he said.

At the study session, Masyczek gave the council a handout informing
how several nearby cities have taken steps to deal with the issue:

Moreno Valley: City Council approved a moratorium in February 2007
prohibiting new marijuana dispensaries pending the city's study on
potential impacts.

Murrieta and Temecula: Dispensaries are prohibited within all zoning districts.

Los Angeles: City Council approved a one-year moratorium in July
prohibiting new dispensaries.

San Marcos: Dispensaries are prohibited within all zoning districts.