PALM SPRINGS LAW COULD ALLOW SOME MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Medical Marijuana Task Force To Review Draft Law On Tuesday

Palm Springs could become the first city in the Coachella Valley to
permit medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city -
providing they comply with state guidelines released in August and are
located in areas zoned for industrial use.

City officials have drafted an ordinance that would ban for-profit
dispensaries in the city, but allow dispensaries organized as
non-profit collectives or cooperatives, as defined in guidelines
recently issued by state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Under the proposed law dispensaries also would be limited to the
city's industrial zones and would have to be at least 500 feet from
any school, park, playground or residential area.

The city's medical marijuana task force will meet to discuss the
proposed law at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E.
Tahquitz Canyon Way. The City Council is also expected to review, but
not vote on the law at its meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're trying to figure out a way to reasonably allow activities
within the state's Compassionate Use Act, while still recognizing we
have federal law that suggest this is illegal drug activity," said
City Attorney Doug Holland. "The idea here is to try to provide balance."

California law allows medical use of marijuana for people with a
doctor's letter of recommendation. Federal law bans all use or
cultivation.

Holland said the law would also go the city's Planning Commission
before coming back to the council for a final vote.

Stacy Hochanadel, the owner of the CannaHelp dispensary located in one
of the city's industrial zones, said his business would pass muster
under the ordinance, should it become law.

"We're 524 feet from the nearest residential project, property line to
property line," Hochanadel said today.

The other two dispensaries in Palm Springs - Community Caregivers and
the Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs, or C.A.P.S. - are both
located on Palm Canyon Drive in commercial zones.

Representatives for the dispensaries were not immediately available
for comment.