CALISTOGA EXTENDS BAN ON MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES

The Calistoga City Council voted 4-0 last week to extend the city's
ban on medicinal marijuana dispensaries for 12 more months.
Councilwoman Karen Slusser was absent.

The Upvalley city has been resisting allowing marijuana dispensaries
for a year. On March 30, 2009, the city received a business license
application for a medical marijuana dispensary, which was later
withdrawn by the applicant.

About a month later, the council decided it had better head the next
request off and passed a 45-day ban so it could work out a strategy
to address location, the criteria for operation and other zoning issues.

Near the end of that moratorium the council decided it needed more
time, so the ban was extended for another 10 months and 15 days.
According to staff reports, one of the reasons for the extension was
to wait and see what happens with a pending lawsuit, Qualified
Patients Assn. v. City of Anaheim, in Orange County. It is
anticipated that the ruling will provide a definitive opinion
regarding municipal bans on medical marijuana shops.

That case could be decided as early as April 29, and maybe earlier,
a city staff report said.

Calistoga police have warned that dispensaries tend to be magnets
for loitering and crime, while dispensary proponents say they serve
a medical need and increase tax revenue.

Calistoga is one of four cities in the county that has moved to
block marijuana dispensaries. Only Napa, which is working up
regulations to oversee a single dispensary, plans to approve a
marijuana clinic.