CITY SNUFFS MARIJUANA STORES

San Juan Capistrano Adopts Urgency Ordinance to Prevent the Opening
of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO -- The City Council on Tuesday unanimously
adopted an interim urgency ordinance restricting the establishment of
medical marijuana dispensaries.

At the same time, the council introduced a new ordinance intended to
amend the municipal code relating to business licenses. If approved
at the Aug. 7 meeting, no business license will be issued for
activity that is "determined to be in conflict with state or federal law.

While California voters more than a decade ago approved medical use
of marijuana in the state, possession still is prohibited under
federal law. The new ordinance would effectively prohibit marijuana
dispensaries because they would violate federal law.

Recent inquiries about the possible establishment of a medical
marijuana dispensary within the city have spurred the council to
action, according to staff reports. Staff did not specify where the
request came from, or where they were hoping to locate the dispensary.

The city has not "previously studied or addressed the operation of
medical marijuana dispensaries, staff reports said.

On Tuesday morning, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a
program that will issue photo identification cards to users of
medical marijuana, joining 31 other California counties that have the
ID program.

After four months of debate and a nearly two-hour public hearing, the
board voted 4-1 to allow the health-care agency to establish the
program within 120 days. The lone vote against the program was
Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who agreed with District Attorney Tony
Rackauckas that marijuana is still illegal under federal law.