MENIFEE: CITY PUTS HOLD ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

MENIFEE ---- Noting President Barack Obama's stance that his
administration would no longer enforce the federal ban on medical
marijuana and marijuana dispensaries, the City Council on Tuesday
voted to place a temporary moratorium on such shops until more
research can be conducted.

The vote was unanimous.

"Let's smoke 'em out," Mayor Wallace Edgerton joked before the vote.

City Attorney Elizabeth Martyn said in an interview that Menifee,
along with several other cities in the area, has received many
requests about land-use regulations regarding the establishment of
dispensaries recently in light of the president's stance.

The moratorium will last 45 days unless it is extended by the council.

In establishing the urgency ordinance to prohibit the shops, city
documents state that "medical marijuana dispensaries may result in
loitering, traffic congestion, parking problems, noise and other
harmful secondary effects."