FRESNO LIMITS MEDICAL POT SALES

Council vote bans dispensaries serving 3 or more patients.

The Fresno City Council on Tuesday banned medical marijuana
dispensaries that serve three or more patients.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer asked for the emergency ordinance to
prevent large-scale establishments from opening in the city that could
grow hundreds of plants.

"That, in of itself, is a law-enforcement nightmare," Dyer said.

But council members Jerry Duncan and Mike Dages opposed the ordinance,
saying it was, in a de facto way, authorizing the sale of a drug still
considered illegal by the federal government.

"I have a real fundamental problem with, somehow, we as a city are
going to sanction the sale of an illegal substance," Duncan said.

Glenn Backes of the Drug Policy Alliance Network in Sacramento said
the ordinance violates the spirit of a voter-approved law that allows
access to medicinal marijuana.

"This really should be in the hands of physicians and patients to take
care of themselves," Backes said. "The city may have gone too far in
crushing access to medical marijuana."

The Compassionate Use Act was adopted by voters in 1996 to ensure that
seriously ill Californians have a right to obtain and use marijuana
for medical purposes.

Patients must obtain a doctor's order and can use the drug for
treatment of cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases. The law also
allows a patient to designate a primary caregiver to grow the marijuana.

People have opened dispensaries or cannabis clubs in cities throughout
California to provide marijuana to numerous patients, and a group in
Tulare County is considering opening a nonprofit dispensary.

Dyer said his department contacted police agencies in Oakland, Hayward
and other communities where the dispensaries operate. He said police
reported problems near those facilities, including marijuana smoking
on the premises or in nearby parks and increased crime.

Dyer said he initially wanted to draft an ordinance that would prevent
all dispensaries in the city. But he said he realized the voters
approved the initiative.

"Whether it's a good law or a bad law, it's a law that we have to live
with," Dyer said.

Many communities have attempted to regulate the businesses through
zoning ordinances. But Dyer said that it would take a long time to
draft those zoning changes and a business that set up shop could
possibly be grandfathered into that location.

Instead, the city drafted an emergency ordinance under the city's
health and safety codes. Dyer said that it would prevent dispensaries
at permanent addresses that serve more than three patients and also
ban mobile operations.

"This would prevent someone from loading up an ice cream truck with
marijuana and delivering it throughout the city," Dyer said.

The ordinance does have an exemption allowing licensed health-care
facilities, including hospices, to provide medical marijuana to more
patients than just three.

Backes of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a national drug-law reform
organization, said the city should be able to regulate dispensaries
through zoning laws or limit hours of operation.

He said the Fresno ordinance will undermine people who attempt to
obtain medical marijuana.

"It's certainly not in keeping with what the voters supported by a
rather large portion," Backes said.

Council Member Dages said he didn't agree with the law when voters
passed it in 1996, and he doesn't agree with it now.

"I have a real tough time with people with greenhouses growing
marijuana for their neighbor next door because, golly gee, they don't
feel good," Dages said.

The council voted 5-2 to adopt the ordinance with Dages and Duncan
opposing.

"I think this is certainly the right thing to do," Council Member
Brian Calhoun said. "It will certainly pass the legal sniff test."