WOMAN LOBBIES TO OPEN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY IN ANDERSON

An Anderson resident and business owner has asked the Anderson City
Council to allow her to open a medical marijuana dispensary within
city limits, but officials say it's not likely to happen.

Gina Munday, 48, uses medical marijuana for a back injury and migraine
headaches. In February, she started a collective that operates in
unincorporated Shasta County and is called The Green Heart, from which
she provides medical marijuana to 11 people. Through contacts with
collectives in other areas of the state, she also provides The Green
Heart's members with other items containing THC, the psychoactive
substance found in marijuana's buds.

Munday, who operates a residential construction company, now wants to
open a dispensary within Anderson city limits. To do that, she has
asked city officials to provide a zoning variance or approve a
rezoning to allow such a business.

"We want to open a nice, professional dispensary where people can feel
safe," she said. "We want to have a professional reception area where
we will check their identification and verify the doctor's
recommendation before we process their application to join the
collective."

So far, neither Planning Director John Stokes nor City Attorney
Michael Fitzpatrick hold out much hope that the council will consider
the request.

"Unless it is addressed specifically in our zoning laws, it is not
allowed," said Stokes, who said he has conveyed similar information to
Munday. "I don't have a zoned district that would accommodate her."

At Stokes' request, Fitzpatrick issued a legal opinion on the question
last week that flatly states such an amendment to the city's zoning
ordinances should not be considered "because California law does not
allow cities to pass ordinances in violation of federal law."

However, contrary to federal law, California law under Proposition 215
allows people with a doctor's recommmendation to have up to 12
immature or six mature marijuana plants. Patients also can have up to
eight ounces of processed marijuana.

While some counties and cities have ordinances that exceed the state
recommendations, Shasta, Tehama and Trinity counties follow the state
guidelines.

Several California cities - most in the San Francisco Bay area - have
passed ordinances establishing possession limits for those with
medical marijuana recommendations that exceed the state
recommendations. For instance, Berkeley allows patients to have up to
10 plants and 2.5 pounds per patient. Collectives there can have up to
50 plants and 12.5 pounds total at any given time.

Redding has three medical marijuana dispensaries, according to the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.