MEDICAL POT SHOPS ON S.D. AGENDA

SAN DIEGO -- Marijuana dispensary operators have been characterized as
everything from drug dealers out to make a fast buck to law-abiding
business owners providing pain relief for seriously ill patients.

In an effort to shift more into the latter category, San Diego city
leaders on Tuesday will debate about where, when and how medical
marijuana storefronts can operate.

The City Council's approach differs from that of other cities in the
county, including Escondido and El Cajon, which have banned the
storefronts.

The council will consider recommendations from an advisory task force
to limit hours, require security and ban dispensaries within 500 feet
of each other or within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and libraries.

Several medical marijuana advocates applauded the proposal, praising
the task force's guiding principle that pot collectives need close
regulation. But some dispensary operators said recommendations
requiring security guards and limiting business hours are too costly
and rigid.

"I agree with the zoning and distance requirements, but the overhead
for a licensed security guard is extreme," said Dwayne Gilliland,
director of the Beneficial Care Collective in downtown San
Diego. "One of my friends runs a collective with his own 24-hour armed
security, and his cost is $14,000 to $15,000 a month. I wouldn't be
able to afford one."

Meanwhile, a committee of volunteer community planners and other
activists has rejected the recommendations and urged the council to
ban all dispensaries, at least until more community input can be
gathered. The committee includes representatives from about 40
neighborhood planning groups, and advises the city staff, City Council
and Planning Commission on land-use matters.

"What makes the community concerned is these storefronts are popping
up and there could be shady characters running them," said Leo Wilson,
chairman of the San Diego Community Planners Committee, which passed a
motion by a 14-6 vote last month urging the council to reject the
recommendations. "We don't know who they are. There's no
accountability for the money."

Scott Chipman, a community activist who fought to ban alcohol at city
beaches, said he has serious misgivings about the recommendations.

"These recommendations are not going to protect communities or our
youth, and the recommendations will not stop the proliferation of pot
shops all over the city," Chipman said.

The task force's recommendations are far from final. Council members
are expected to refer the matter to a committee and could seek
additional input. For example, the task force has not addressed how
the proposed permitting and zoning processes would affect the
estimated 70 to 100 dispensaries already operating in San Diego.

Cities across the state have struggled to regulate medical marijuana
since 1996, when California voters legalized its use by seriously ill
patients. The vagueness of state statutes and the fact that the drug
is still illegal under federal law have complicated matters.

More than 100 cities in the state have banned dispensaries, according
to the Coalition for a Drug Free California, though at least one
lawsuit filed in Anaheim is challenging the legality of the ban.

Dozens of other cities have passed ordinances to regulate the
collectives. Most have tried to limit the number of dispensaries by
either capping the number allowed or creating minimum-distance
requirements from schools and other places that attract children.

In San Diego, the recommendations don't address a cap, but task-force
chairman Alex Kreit said a natural limit would evolve by keeping
dispensaries at least 1,000 feet from schools and 500 feet from each
other.

Kreit, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in Old Town, said
recommendations regarding operating hours and security guards attempt
to balance the needs of legitimate medical marijuana patients with the
desire to not disrupt neighborhoods.

Kreit said hiring guards can be expensive but that other entities,
including Los Angeles County, have created similar rules to help deter
criminals from targeting stores for robbery. If approved in San Diego,
the dispensaries would be the only business group with such a
requirement, city officials said.

The 11 task-force members were appointed by City Council members and
consist of two attorneys, a retired police officer, a medical
marijuana patient, a dispensary operator, a reverend, a small-business
owner and community activists.

Eugene Davidovich, the San Diego chapter coordinator for Americans for
Safe Access and a former dispensary operator, said he's pleased with
the recommendations but concerned that operators might have difficulty
obtaining permits.

"It could cost thousands of dollars to hire and develop a plan for an
application," Davidovich said. "That's an undue burden on top of the
cost it takes to cultivate the medicine."

He added that the Community Planners Committee's recent vote revealing
opposition to dispensaries could pose more obstacles for operators.

Task-force members say that concern is overblown because the criteria
that city staffers will use to issue permits is based on land use and
zoning, not political opinions.

"I think these initial recommendations will work well for patients and
neighborhoods," said Stephen Whitburn, vice chairman of the task force
and a former candidate for City Council.

It's unclear what effect the city's eventual ordinance will have on
law enforcement. Steve Walter, the district attorney's assistant chief
of narcotics, said that whatever the city approves, investigators will
continue to prosecute operators violating state law. The city attorney
is in charge of enforcing city ordinances, he said.

"Based on the investigations we've done so far, I'm unaware of any
storefronts operating legally," Walter said. "But we have not
investigated all of them."

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TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

- - New medical marijuana cooperatives and collectives would apply for
city permits. If rejected by the staff, they could appeal to the
Planning Commission.

- - Storefronts would be limited to commercial and industrial zones,
though some of those areas are near homes.

- - Dispensaries could not be within a 1,000-foot-radius of schools,
playgrounds, libraries, child-care facilities and youth centers, or
within a 500-foot-radius of other dispensaries.

- - Cooperatives would have to provide documentation to the city
outlining plans to operate as nonprofits.

- - Storefronts would be required to have adequate security systems that
include cameras, alarms and a licensed guard during all business hours.

- - Storefronts could be open only from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.