MEDICAL MARIJUANA BLOCKED

Emergency ban gives city time to deal with complex issue

You can't sell marijuana in Taft now, even if it's for medicinal purposes.

The Taft City Council passed an emergency ordinance last week to ban
the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries for the next 45 days.

Chief of Police Bert Pumphrey requested the emergency ordinance,
which went into effect immediately and required a four-fifths vote of
the council.

The ordinance prohibits the current businesses from providing the
drug as well as the opening of a business for the purpose of
dispensing marijuana.

The council voted 5-0 to approve the request.

Pumphrey said the city recently received at least one inquiry from a
person interested in opening a marijuana dispensary in the city.

Proposition 215 (the Compassionate Use Act) in 1996 allows for the
use of marijuana for seriously ill people, but it is very ambiguous
about how the marijuana is to be provided.

Pumphrey said the proposition makes no mention of dispensaries or
businesses that sell the drug, but does allow caregivers to provide
it to ill people.

"But it isn't clear on the definition of a caregiver," Pumphrey said.

To add to the confusion, while state law may permit the use and
dispensing of marijuana for medicinal purposes, federal law does not.

That could put cities in the position of violating federal law if
they permit medical marijuana dispensaries, City Attorney Kathy
Gibson warned the council before it voted.

In fact, she said, a public agency could conceivably even be
prosecuted for "aiding and abetting" marijuana sales.

Pumphrey and city attorney Kathy Gibson both said there are court
cases pending that will probably lead to a decision on which law -
state or federal - supersedes the other one.

The confusion over the law and what it permits, and whether state law
will supersede federal law has resulted in a variety of actions.

According to the staff report Pumphrey prepared for the council,
cities and counties in the state have taken a variety of actions -
some have permitted the distribution of marijuana for medicinal
purposes and other have not.

Pumphrey said Wednesday that he will probably ask the council to
extend the ban on marijuana dispensaries for up to two years to allow
the city to draft a comprehensive policy to regulate it.

He said he will seek a very restrictive ordinance similar to the
city's adult entertainment ordinance.