SANTA ANA CONSIDERING MEDICAL-MARIJUANA BAN

The City Council Is Scheduled to Vote on a New Law That Would
Permanently Block Dispensaries.

SANTA ANA Medical-marijuana shops would be permanently barred from
this city under a proposed law headed to the City Council on Monday.

The law would add Santa Ana to the growing list of California cities
that have moved to block medical-marijuana dispensaries in recent
years. State law allows for such dispensaries, but federal law outlaws
the possession or sale of marijuana, medical or otherwise.

Santa Ana's proposed ban is meant to keep out "storefront operations
that deal medical marijuana to many people," according to a staff
report given to council members. It would not apply to patients
qualified to use medical marijuana who have a "direct, one-to-one
relationship" with a caregiver, the report states.

It also would not apply to hospitals, hospices and other
state-licensed care centers.

The city enacted a temporary ban on marijuana dispensaries nearly two
years ago. That ban is scheduled to expire in mid-October; the
proposed law would make its provisions permanent.

Santa Ana currently has no marijuana dispensaries operating "to our
knowledge," said Jay Trevino, the director of the Planning and
Building Agency.

Dozens of California cities have enacted temporary or permanent bans
on medical-marijuana dispensaries. A survey done by the Los Angeles
Police Department in 2006 counted more than 100 with some sort of
provision against dispensaries.

A medical-marijuana group recently sued to block Anaheim's recent ban
on dispensaries from taking effect. An Orange County Superior Court
judge is scheduled to decide today whether to stop the law until a
trial.

Santa Ana's City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on
Monday evening before it votes on the proposed ban. The meeting begins
at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 22 Civic Center Plaza.