MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE RAGES ON

Fanning the flames of an already-raging debate over medical marijuana
dispensaries in Santa Barbara, Assemblyman Pedro Nava presented a
resolution yesterday commending a group of residents and community
activists who have been vocally opposed to pot shops in their neighborhoods.

Describing prior local laws on the issue as "woefully inadequate," he
called on city leaders to support the interests of the community
coalition and crack down on dispensaries that are operating outside of the law.

Rather than ban the storefront dispensaries outright, as many cities
throughout the region and state have done, local leaders have spent
the past several years muddling through the murky waters of marijuana
regulation.

A council subcommittee appears on the cusp of passing along a
much-revised ordinance to the full council for consideration in the
next few weeks, but members of a community group called Santa Barbara
Against Dispensaries are remaining outspoken in their criticism of
efforts to manage what they view as a proliferation of pot shops.

Sharon Byrne, a downtown resident who helped organize the group, said
she supports the appropriate use of medical marijuana and voted for
the Compassionate Use Act to permit statewide use of the drug by
ailing patients, but doesn't believe that dispensaries fit that model.

"None of us ever thought we were saying, please open drug-dealing
stores in our neighborhoods, next to our schools and near drug
rehabilitation facilities," she said.

The coalition is advocating for an outright ban on dispensaries, or
at least a 1,000-foot barrier around sensitive areas such as recovery
centers, schools and other youth facilities.

The city already has a 500-foot barrier around schools and parks, and
the revised regulations, if approved, would establish a similar
buffer around 17 "high-priority" recovery facilities.

Councilmember Das Williams has spent dozens of sessions wrestling
with the issue of how to effectively regulate medical marijuana and
said an outright ban is the wrong path to take.

Doing so, he argued, would force the market back underground and
create marijuana collectives in homes and backyards -- collectives
that are permitted under state law and can't be regulated by the city.

"My feeling is the neighborhood collectives that are operating out of
someone's home are much more likely to give pot to people who
shouldn't have it, like kids," he said.

Williams took umbrage with Nava's recent activity on the medical
marijuana front, pointing to the lack of clarity in state laws
concerning cannabis as the key reason local leaders are struggling to
find an appropriate way to balance the need to provide medication for
legitimate patients while still protecting the community.

"It's kind of ridiculous to have someone who is in charge of state
law to ask us to do something that is in conflict with state law," he said.

The councilman also lamented the ongoing criticism from opponents of
dispensaries, saying they have prolonged the process of shutting down
nonconforming shops by slowing efforts to revise regulations.

But Byrne said the process would have moved much more quickly had the
city listened to the concerns of its constituents and acted
accordingly from the onset.

"Will you please listen to the people who elected you?" she said,
adding that city leaders must decide whether they are on the side of
the community or on the side of "drug entrepreneurs."

Councilmember Dale Francisco acknowledged that while some operators
are genuine in their attempt to help those who legitimately need
marijuana, others are merely entrepreneurs looking to get in on the
next big market.

"Unfortunately, the retail storefront model does not work," he said.

Francisco has been a proponent of clearly outlawing the for-profit
industry in favor of nonprofit collectives permitted under state law,
and also lauded the community coalition for its grassroots work in
bringing the issue to the attention of city leaders.

How the marathon battle over dispensaries will affect the medical
marijuana industry in Santa Barbara remains to be seen. A handful of
shops remain in operation -- some permitted by the city, some
operating in nonconformance and yet others open illegally.

The subcommittee will review a series of amendments to the current
ordinance regulating medical cannabis this Tuesday at noon before
presumably making its way to the council agenda for possible approval
or tinkering.

The proposed changes would allow medical marijuana to be made
available to qualified patients and caregivers at storefront
locations only if such shops are operated as purely nonprofit
collectives. Members of those collectives must also reside in Santa
Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Ventura counties.

Only five collectives would be permitted in the city, and authorities
would be allowed to inspect financial and membership records with
limited notice.

While hopeful that the changes will help address the concerns voiced
by community members, Williams said medical marijuana is destined to
remain a contentious topic until state and federal leaders come to a
consensus on how to handle the drug.

"Our hands are not completely tied," he said of local efforts to
regulate the industry, "but we are severely limited in what we can
and can't do."