SACRAMENTO CONSIDERS MORATORIUM ON MEDICAL POT SHOPS

Officials in Sacramento are a bit dazed and confused over all the
medicinal marijuana shops that have popped up in the city.

While the estimates of how many facilities are now open in the city
range from 15 to 28, the number has clearly grown in recent months,
both council members and marijuana advocates say.

As a result, the city is considering whether it's time to place a
temporary moratorium on the facilities while stricter regulations are
put in place.

"It's not that we don't want any marijuana dispensaries," said
Councilman Steve Cohn, whose district covering midtown and east
Sacramento has seen as many as 10 of the shops open in recent months.
"What it means is, we already have quite a few in the city, and we
want to take a timeout and see where we're at."

Cohn said the number of clinics in the city has ballooned since the
Obama administration said earlier this year that it would honor state
laws regulating medicinal pot and stop raids on dispensaries. That
represents a shift from Bush administration policy, which ordered
raids of the facilities even in states that allowed for medicinal
marijuana use.

In California, the medicinal use of marijuana has been legal since
voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996.

For many years, roughly five dispensaries operated in the city of
Sacramento. In the past six months, however, the number has spiked to
more than 20, estimated Lanette Davies, Sacramento coordinator for
Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit organization that lobbies for
medicinal marijuana patients.

"We don't want an unruly group opening up all across the city; we
want safe access for patients," Davies said. "When they open, we want
to know they're doing the right thing. One bad apple can make the
whole group look bad."

The City Council may discuss the moratorium as early as June 2. If a
cap is placed on new facilities, the city would likely draft an
ordinance restricting where the dispensaries can operate and what
they can sell.

Under current code, the city refuses to issue business licenses to
the facilities. At the same time, there is nothing in the zoning
ordinances that outlaws them.

Some dispensaries tell the city they are selling alternative, herbal
or natural medicine, Davies said.

No official record is kept in the city of how many dispensaries
exist, and the Police Department often does not discover new
facilities until they are victims of a crime or a neighbor complains.

"It's one of those gray areas, and we want to make sure we have
clear-cut rules on where these businesses can go and the conditions
under which they can operate," Cohn said.

The increase in marijuana dispensaries has sparked the talk of a moratorium.

"It hasn't been high on the list," Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy said.
"We've been looking at gangs, we've been looking at crime and at the
economy. This doesn't rise to the level of that."

Dale Gieringer, one of the authors of Proposition 215 and the state
coordinator for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana
Laws, or NORML, a nonprofit organization that lobbies for the
legalization of marijuana, said cities often turn to moratoriums when
the number of dispensaries hits a high number.

"When you reach a point like that, you're likely to have a few
sketchy players in the basket, and it makes sense for the city to try
to work it out," he said. "A moratorium is a way to do it in a
systematic matter."

Sheedy said it is "wise to look at any issue when proliferation begins."

"If they're going to operate under medical reasons, that's fine," she said.

Moratoriums already exist in Galt, Lodi and Los Angeles.

The Galt City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to place a 10-month
moratorium on dispensaries and also to direct city staff to draft an
ordinance regulating the facilities.

Supporters of the move said restricting the facilities is a matter of
public safety.