MEDICAL POT ADVOCATES ATTACK CITY PROPOSAL

The Napa City Council's plan for medical marijuana dispensaries was
attacked by some cannabis advocates Tuesday night as too
conservative, provoking an angry response from Councilwoman Juliana
Inman.

Advocates, including many who plan to compete for a city permit,
criticized a proposal that would allow only one dispensary the first
year, cap the number of patients at about 7,500 and tightly restrict
the amount grown in homes.

The city doesn't limit the number of pharmacies or other businesses
or tell medical doctors how many patients they can treat, the
advocates said.

A Ukiah attorney warned that limiting pot dispensaries to just one
ran counter to a recent legal decision, putting the city on shaky
legal ground.

After listening to an hour of public comment, Inman said she was "a
little taken aback by the ferocity of the opposition."

Napa needs to proceed cautiously, Inman said. "I believe we should
start with one applicant who has been carefully vetted."

Inman defended the patient limit of 7,500, saying she didn't want to
see Napa become a medical marijuana Mecca for people from around the
Bay Area.

As for the threat that allowing only one dispensary might provoke a
legal challenge, Inman struck a defiant note. "If one is not enough,
let's have zero," she said. "People should be careful about asking
for the moon."

After hearing comments from 16 people, the majority of whom applauded
the council's direction, the council unanimously supported most of
staff's proposed regulations for the city's experiment with medical
cannabis dispensaries.

Council members said they are responding to the needs of residents
who say that marijuana helps them cope with a host of medical conditions.

State voters approved an initiative in 1996 that allows cities to
authorize medical marijuana dispensaries. The federal government
considers marijuana an illegal drug, but is deferring to states that
allow exemptions.

The council said last summer that it wanted to make it possible for a
medical marijuana dispensary to open in Napa. This new direction has
been strongly supported by people who are attending the hearings.
Only a few people have spoken out against dispensaries.

Staff will take Tuesday's council comments, tweak the draft
ordinance, then send it to the Planning Commission for a public
hearing this spring. After the council gives its OK, the city will
seek dispensary applications.

Council members said that capping the first dispensary's membership
to 10 percent of the city's population was a way of making sure it
didn't become a regional draw.

No other city in the Napa Valley allows marijuana dispensaries, nor
do many nearby cities.

Several council members said they would like to restrict the
customers base to city residents, but staff said this was not legally
possible. The city will consider allowing a second dispensary after a
year.

Dispensaries will be restricted to commercial and office zones. A
large-scale marijuana growing facility in support of the dispensary
will be restricted to a light industrial zone.

Councilman Mark van Gorder and Inman said they agreed with people who
said it would be more efficient and more secure if the grow facility
and the dispensary were together in an industrial area.

The Planning Commission will be able to weigh in on zoning
restrictions, as well as a staff recommendation that the dispensary
be at least 1,000 feet from parks and schools.

Mayor Jill Techel said the dispensary belonged in a medical office
zone with other doctors' offices. If marijuana is a medicine, then
dispensaries should be zoned that way, she said.

The council liked limiting the growing space in private homes to 25
square feet, with exemptions to 50 square feet in special cases. The
city does not want homes to be taken over as grow houses.