CYPRESS NARROWLY APPROVES MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN

No Dispensaries Are Known To Operate In The City, But Police Asked
City Staff To Look Into The Matter Out Of Concern For Potential Problems.

CYPRESS -- A bloc of three council members was enough to overcome
opposition from the mayor and mayor pro tem to narrowly approve a
staff recommendation Monday changing the city's zoning law to prevent
medical marijuana dispensaries from setting up shop.

There are no dispensaries known to operate in Cypress and none has
ever operated. In 2004, the Police Department asked the city staff to
look into the matter out of concern for potential problems that
dispensaries may create, such as illegal drug sales and robberies.

Medical marijuana was legalized in California through a popular vote
several years ago but the federal law still classifies marijuana as an
illegal drug and federal law enforcement agencies have pursued both
dealers and users.

"Right now the law is so up in the air it's hard to tell where it is
going to come out," said City Attorney William Wynder, who contributed
to the staff report used by the City Council to make the decision at
Monday's meeting.

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, Mayor Lydia Sondhi
and Mayor Pro Tem Phil Luebben asked their council colleagues to join
them in postponing any action on the matter. Sondhi asked the staff -- Ted
Commerdinger, acting community development director and a police
representative in addition to Wynder -- why no medical
opinions were included in the staff report.

"What's ringing in my mind is this report is void of any (medical)
opinion," Luebben added, saying he was against passing a
"prophylactic-type law."

Council members Frank McCoy, Mike McGill and Todd Seymore sided with
the staff, firm in their position despite a tear-filled plea from
Sondhi -- who was roiled by memories of friends who passed away
from cancer -- and several citizens who spoke in favor of medical
marijuana during the hearing.

"My family suffers from fibromyalgia and I am facing a life of
crippling," said speaker James W. Bush, saying he has used marijuana
to ease the pain. "I don't want to be a criminal. I don't want to go
behind the law."

The cities of Placentia and Tustin have passed 45-day moratoriums in
an effort to sort out the discrepancies among the laws governing
marijuana, a battle that has been waged all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court.

In Tustin, the council passed an urgency ordinance in February after a
clinic was shut down by police because an undercover officer was able
to buy marijuana without a prescription.