IT'S HIGH NOON FOR THOUSAND OAKS' ONLY POT CLINIC

PLANNING: City wants to impose moratorium on medicinal marijuana business
while zoning laws are considered.

THOUSAND OAKSMedicinal marijuana advocates in this affluent suburb may
soon find themselves temporarily zoned outand not because they
overindulged.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider adopting an "urgency ordinance"
barring "medical marijuana dispensaries" for 45 days so that city officials
can study and enact new zoning regulations governing such property use.

Deputy City Atty. Jim Friedl wrote in a report to the council that there
are countless issues to ponder and court cases to follow after passage of
California's 1996 medicinal marijuana initiativesuch as the impact of the
legal battle surrounding the Cannabis Buyers' Club in San Francisco.

A state appeals court ruled Friday that the clubwhich was shut down
following a 1996 raid by state agents but subsequently allowed to operate
by San Francisco authoritieshad to close again.

The decision, which affects medicinal marijuana centers statewide, would go
into effect next month, but it could be held up on appeal to the state
Supreme Court.

Thousand Oaks' ordinance, a rarely used tactic that requires a fourfifths
vote, comes in response to the actions of Andrea Nagy, a 27yearold legal
secretary who last month began dispensing marijuana out of a Thousand Oaks
strip mall to customers she said were ill and in need of special treatment.

Nagy said Friday she will not close down her pot prescription
storeregardless of what city leaders dobecause she has 28 patients who
need their medicine. She said she will seek a court injunction allowing her
to continue selling marijuana if city officials do not exempt her from the
ordinance.

Nagy said she and some of her patients, along with experts on marijuana's
medicinal attributes, will attend Tuesday's council meeting in an effort to
convince city leaders of their legitimacy.

"I don't care," Nagy said of Thousand Oaks' expected action. "It [closing
down] is not an option for me, and I'm sure I'd be able to get an
injunction, operating on the issue of medical necessity."

On the grounds that she suffers chronic migraine headaches, Nagy obtained
permission to smoke pot the day after the passage of Proposition 215.

In September, she asked Thousand Oaks to amend its municipal code to allow
distribution of medical marijuana in the city. She agrees that officials
need time to study the zoning issues resulting from Proposition
215something cities such as San Jose and Berkeley have already done.

But since she requested that Thousand Oaks do so months ago, and her pleas
were unheeded until recently, she believes an exemption for her
establishment is more than fair.

"I don't feel it will affect me," Nagy said. "The city attorney knows
already that the county is not coming down on me. I asked them to look into
this during the summer. I think this is a reasonable consideration
considering the limited knowledge they have on this issue. "But if they try
to shut me down, they're going to lose in court."

Like many state and federal officials, Thousand Oaks council members have
denounced the sale of marijuana in their city for any purposes. They say
that's what their constituents would want from them. "It just seems like
the wrong community to try this in," Councilwoman Linda Parks said. "This
may fly in San Francisco, but not here."

"I don't believe that most of the community here accepts marijuana for
medical useI just don't," Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. "And I think it
is our duty to uphold community standards as much as we can in accordance
with the law."

However, realizing medicinal marijuana backers now have a voterapproved
state law on their side, city officials want time to analyze the questions
a pot distribution site would pose for their community.

"In what zone should this use be located?" Friedl wrote in a report to the
council. "Could it be near a school, a church, a daycare facility? What
personal or professional qualifications should be required of an operator
and/or staff of such a facility? How and under what conditions would the
marijuana be grown, processed, transported, stored and distributed? What
security measures are necessary to protect against attempted theft?"

Parks said the issues are staggering. If such a place is entitled to
operate in Thousand Oaksand she does not dispute marijuana could help
some sick peopleit needs to be tightly regulated, she said.

"I think we have to proceed really cautiously to determine the kinds of
standards we need with these kinds of businesses," Parks said. "I have a
lot of concerns, like, is it legal for people to drive cars under the
influence. This is a controlled substance."

Lazar also wants answers. For instance, she wonders whether medically
trained individuals should be prescribing the drug. That is why a
moratorium makes sensefor everyone, including Nagy, she said.

"Obviously, we're going to comply with the law," Lazar said. "But she has
to as well. We have a clear right to enact a moratorium while we figure out
how to deal with this initiative, and I think she needs to honor that."

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