COUNCIL VOTES TO HOLD SPECIAL MEETING

Moratorium On Medical Marijuana Sales Topic Of Discussion

The Ridgecrest City Council will hold a special meeting Aug. 23 at 6
p.m. to consider an ordinance imposing a moratorium on licensing
medical-marijuana dispensaries in Ridgecrest.

The item arose last night during City Attorney Steve O'Neill's report
to the council regarding the regulation of such dispensaries in the city.

"There's really a host of options that we can explore," he said.

O'Neill said options include placing a moratorium on future
businesses and regulating the conduct of the current facility.

Vice Mayor Dan Clark said he is interested in a moratorium.

"That would give us time to research an ordinance, take a look at the
facility and the quality of service that's being offered," he said.

O'Neill told the council the city can enact an interim ordinance for
a 45-day moratorium to give the staff time to explore options.

"I would like to have an ordinance. I'm not interested in a
moratorium unless we're doing a moratorium only until we pass the
ordinance," said Councilmember Ron Carter. "I want to make sure
everything is legitimate and above board. It's legal. It's not
something we can stop, but we can have an ordinance of regulations."

He said regulations should include a guarded door. "No one enters
unless they have proper documentation from a doctor. When you first
walk in, there's no medical marijuana in that portion, and they take
the documentation from the patient."

Carter said he wants the regulations to include verification of
patients from doctors, building security, a separate room for
patients to purchase medical marijuana, no smoking and workers have
no criminal record.

Clark said he visited the local medical-marijuana dispensary,
Epicurean Delights, and talked to some patients, "and they all seemed
to have legitimate reasons why they wanted to use marijuana in our community."

He said he still has concerns about the legitimacy of the whole system.

"There's been major, major glitches in Proposition 215 that I think
we all need to be aware of," Clark stressed. "I think we need some
kind of moratorium until we can write an ordinance that we feel
comfortable with."

Mayor Pro Tem Duke Martin said that while he does not totally agree
with Prop. 215, "it's something that's the law, and I will uphold the law."

Epicurean Delights owner Jeff Clark pointed out that patients declare
under penalty of perjury that the information provided is true and accurate.

"If you come into my store and buy pot and go out into the street and
sell it, you're going to lose your license back to day one, and
you're going to be guilty of charges back to day one," he said.

"I believe in the ordinance. I believe you should an ordinance
regulating the dispensaries," Jeff Clark added.

Talking about security, he said his facility has three locked doors
before getting to the dispensary. "Each door has two locks. The
dispensary is in a separate room where the actual sales are made.
There is a lobby. I don't need people standing outside. I don't want
people loitering in my parking lot. I don't want any drug use in the
establishment, around the establishment, near the establishment."