BOARD TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA PLAN

After the issue of medical marijuana dispensary regulations came up a
few weeks ago, county officials and cannabis proponents met to find a
compromise.

It was a nice try, but not good enough, says the Bakersfield chapter
of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

A revised ordinance is now up for vote at the Kern County Board of
Supervisors' meeting Tuesday morning.

The original measure, which was brought up June 13, would have enabled
the Sheriff's Department to know each person involved in every medical
marijuana transaction, limited hours of operation and required
disclosure of any firearms on the dispensary premises, among other
things. Since then, those actions have been scaled back.

The Sheriff's Department can only see the names of patients and
caregivers when they get a warrant or court order. Dispensaries can be
open until 8 p.m. The requirement for disclosure of firearms was deleted.

"We worked it out," said deputy county counsel John Irby. "We want to
have a system under which the sheriff can inspect the premises to
ensure they are complying with state medical marijuana law."

But NORML, along with some local dispensaries, doesn't want the
sheriff involved at all.

"I don't have a problem with there being an ordinance," said Ed Sulla,
vice president of Bakersfield NORML. "But we think it should be the
health department to handle it."

Jim McGowen, owner of the American Caregivers Collective, a dispensary
on Gillmore Avenue, worries this oversight by the Sheriff's Department
will allow for an abuse of power.

McGowen's customers are worried they will be outed as marijuana users
and lose their jobs, he said.

"I see this as a cover-up the police are using to get what they want,"
McGowen said. "It's probably going to put these dispensaries out of
business, put these patients back on the street (to find
marijuana)."

The sheriff is involved because that department manages regulatory
business licenses in Kern County, Irby said. Other businesses that the
sheriff regulates include pawn shops, massage parlors and bingo halls.

Other measures in the proposed medical marijuana dispensary ordinance
include:

* Grounds for suspension and revocation of the license.

* Requiring documentation of patient physician recommendations and
financial records.

* Restrictions on minors using medical marijuana.

* Limit on the number of dispensaries allowed in the
county.

The supervisors also will vote on requiring the dispensaries to pay a
$166 yearly fee.