News (Media Awareness Project) - US CA: Norco Council Urged to Ban Pot Dispensaries |
| Title: | US CA: Norco Council Urged to Ban Pot Dispensaries |
| Published On: | 2007-08-31 |
| Source: | Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-08-16 18:43:47 |
NORCO COUNCIL URGED TO BAN POT DISPENSARIES
NORCO - Following the lead of other Inland area cities, Norco planning
commissioners have voted unanimously to recommend that the City
Council ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The City Council will consider the commission's recommendation at a
Sept. 19 meeting, said Planning Commission Chairman Greg Newton. The
commission voted 4-0 Wednesday evening in favor of the ban. Commission
Vice Chairman Bob Wright was absent.
The commission considered the medical needs of patients, but
ultimately sided with federal law, Newton said. Although California
voters legalized the use of medicinal marijuana with a doctor's
prescription in 1996, federal law continues to ban the use, sale and
cultivation of pot.
"We are caught between a rock and a hard place, between the state and
the federal government," Newton said.
Looming over the commission's recommendation was the threat that, no
matter how it ruled, the Drug Enforcement Administration would
eventually close the dispensaries, as it has done in other cities.
Raids July 17 by DEA agents shut medical marijuana dispensaries in
Corona, Hollywood, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.
A medical marijuana dispensary called Collective Solutions opened on
Sixth Street in Norco last December, just after a 45-day moratorium
ran out on new medical marijuana dispensaries anywhere in the city.
The city also went to court to get the sole operating dispensary
closed, arguing that Collective Solutions operated without a license
and in violation of the city zoning code.
On March 1, a Riverside County judge granted the city's request for an
injunction, ordering the dispensary to close immediately.
Chris Yap, co-owner of the dispensary, said he was disappointed with
the Planning Commission recommendation.
"Here in Riverside County we issue a medical ID card for medicinal
marijuana patients yet we provide no place for people to go and get
access," Yap said.
The owners of Collective Solutions and their advocates said they would
ask the City Council to reject the proposed ban.
NORCO - Following the lead of other Inland area cities, Norco planning
commissioners have voted unanimously to recommend that the City
Council ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The City Council will consider the commission's recommendation at a
Sept. 19 meeting, said Planning Commission Chairman Greg Newton. The
commission voted 4-0 Wednesday evening in favor of the ban. Commission
Vice Chairman Bob Wright was absent.
The commission considered the medical needs of patients, but
ultimately sided with federal law, Newton said. Although California
voters legalized the use of medicinal marijuana with a doctor's
prescription in 1996, federal law continues to ban the use, sale and
cultivation of pot.
"We are caught between a rock and a hard place, between the state and
the federal government," Newton said.
Looming over the commission's recommendation was the threat that, no
matter how it ruled, the Drug Enforcement Administration would
eventually close the dispensaries, as it has done in other cities.
Raids July 17 by DEA agents shut medical marijuana dispensaries in
Corona, Hollywood, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.
A medical marijuana dispensary called Collective Solutions opened on
Sixth Street in Norco last December, just after a 45-day moratorium
ran out on new medical marijuana dispensaries anywhere in the city.
The city also went to court to get the sole operating dispensary
closed, arguing that Collective Solutions operated without a license
and in violation of the city zoning code.
On March 1, a Riverside County judge granted the city's request for an
injunction, ordering the dispensary to close immediately.
Chris Yap, co-owner of the dispensary, said he was disappointed with
the Planning Commission recommendation.
"Here in Riverside County we issue a medical ID card for medicinal
marijuana patients yet we provide no place for people to go and get
access," Yap said.
The owners of Collective Solutions and their advocates said they would
ask the City Council to reject the proposed ban.
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