TEMECULA BARS MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES

MARIJUANA: Officials say the ban allows for study of therapeutic
issues and potential legal conflicts.

TEMECULA - A temporary ban on medical marijuana dispensaries was
approved by Temecula early Wednesday following a standoff between
local advocates and City Councilman Jeff Stone.

The showdown left three medical marijuana advocates grumbling that
Stone, a pharmacist whose term as a Riverside County supervisor begins
in January, is closed-minded on the issue.

The advocates did not lobby for a dispensary, but instead wanted to
educate the council on marijuana's medicinal uses. They volunteered to
serve on a committee that would study the issue and return to the
council with a recommendation.

Stone countered that marijuana has not been proven effective and that
it can be addictive and interact unsafely with alcohol or other drugs.

"We should not allow this type of activity in our city," he
said.

The temporary ban, which would last 45 days but could be extended up
to one year, was recommended by city staff members after an inquiry
was received on the possible opening of a medical marijuana dispensary
in Temecula. Officials requested the ban to give city staff time to
study medical marijuana issues and examine the legal conflicts between
state and federal laws.

The council agreed to examine the issues, but did not form a committee
or invite the medical marijuana advocates to participate in the study.

While federal law prohibits the sale or use of marijuana, California
and eight other states permit using marijuana for medical purposes.
California voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996, and since then
clubs have been formed in several cities to serve patients with a
doctor's prescription.

The dispensary inquiry was received July 30 from Compassionate
Caregivers, which opened in February 2001 and now operates cannabis
clubs in Oakland, San Francisco, West Hollywood and Ukiah. Information
provided by the group states that it has 142 employees and more than
7,000 members and serves more than 20,000 medical marijuana patients
as far away as San Diego.

No one from the group appeared at the council meeting, and officials
did not return messages Tuesday or Wednesday. The issue of whether or
how to regulate medical marijuana on a municipal level has rarely been
addressed by cities in Riverside County. In March, about a dozen
medical marijuana advocates urged Riverside County supervisors to
direct law enforcement to stop harassing residents and learn the
guidelines established under the 1996 law.

Stone said Wednesday that he will continue to echo his concerns over
medical marijuana when he becomes a county supervisor. His reaction
dismayed advocates Martin and La Vonne Victor of Temecula, who spoke
at the council meeting along with Lanny Swerdlow, director of the Palm
Springs-based Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project and American Harm
Reduction Association.

The Victors, who launched a cannabis acceptance project in January at
a community forum at the Temecula Public Library, said there is
growing use of the drug by area residents who have received a doctor's
prescription. Both use marijuana to ease symptoms of medical problems.

Martin Victor said the January meeting attracted about 75 people,
about half of whom are medical patients who use marijuana for cancer,
AIDS and other serious illnesses. He said about 200 people have
expressed an interest in joining their loose-knit group.

"Don't hurt citizens," he urged the council. "Think about it. Think.
Don't hurt us."