MORE MEDICAL MARIJUANA HEARINGS WANTED

Riverside County: A Senior Staffer Asks for the Planning Commission
to Reconsider the Issue.

A proposal to regulate medical marijuana cooperatives in Riverside
County could be heading back to the Planning Commission for an overhaul.

Michael Harrod, a senior planner for the county, said he would ask the
Board of Supervisors next Tuesday to return the proposal to the
Planning Commission.

If the supervisors agree, Harrod said the commission would re-open a
public hearing Sept. 13 in La Quinta to "allow for full public
participation."

The commission in July unanimously endorsed the proposal, which would
allow cooperatives to operate with a special permit in commercial
office and retail zones.

Medical marijuana advocates later blasted the county plan saying it
was poorly researched.

They said it would wrongly prohibit the sale of edible marijuana
products and prohibit growing marijuana at cooperatives, which they
contend is allowed under state law.

They say county planners have confused a cooperative with a
dispensary, which is a location where patients may safely purchase
medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana advocates such as Lanny Swerdlow, of Palm Springs,
also point to language in the proposed ordinance that requires
patients to have a "prescription" as evidence the plan was
ill-conceived.

Doctors may write only recommendations for the use of medical
marijuana.

Planning Commissioner John Snell said Monday that he was not surprised
the rules could come back for more debate.

"We are going to work out something that is fair for everybody, which
means nobody gets everything they want," Snell said.

Dorothy Carlson, 45, of Riverside, said officials need to stop looking
at marijuana patients as "pot heads looking for loopholes in the law."

"I have always taken a strong stance against drugs. That's why I
understand where the Board of Supervisors is coming from. What they
don't understand is there is a big difference between recreational and
medicinal use," Carlson said.

Carlson said she uses small amounts of marijuana to relieve nerve pain
from a back injury that was caused by a drunken driver.

Officials in cities across the county also have been wrestling with
ways to regulate or restrict the operation of medical marijuana
dispensaries.

Last week a Riverside Superior Court Commissioner tossed out a request
from the city of Corona to issue a temporary restraining order against
the Healing Nations Collective, a dispensary.

In December, the Riverside County health department began processing
applications for state-issued medical marijuana identification cards.

The cards are optional, but could protect patients and caregivers from
arrest and prosecution by identifying them to law enforcement officials.

Patients and caregivers still may be prosecuted under federal laws,
however.

About 250 cards have been issued to qualified patients in Riverside
County.