WILDOMAR RESIDENTS WEIGH IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

A month after Wildomar shut down a storefront medical marijuana
collective, the City Council on Wednesday heard testimony from
medical marijuana advocates, a sheriff's deputy and a mental health expert.

The meeting could be a step toward passage of a law regulating, and
thus allowing, medical marijuana dispensaries in the young city.
Wildomar currently bans dispensaries.

It was unclear late Wednesday whether the council would ask for an
ordinance to be drafted, the next step toward allowing marijuana
facilities in the city. The discussion stretched well past 10 p.m.

An overflow crowd of about 75 had people waiting in the hallway for
their turn to speak.

Christopher Fichtner, a physiatrist and the former director of mental
health for Illinois, told the council he had interviewed many
patients who said medical marijuana lessened their need for harsher
medications.

"If when the rubber hits the road, and a patient says it's better
than things that have side effects ... we should be allowing it,
instead of coming up with a bunch of reasons why they can't," Fichtner said.

Other speakers expressed concerns about where the businesses would be
located, or whether they should be allowed at all. Those remarks drew applause.

The council took up the issue last month after a storefront medical
marijuana collective opened its doors. The nonprofit dispensary,
Wildomar Patients Compassionate Group, was open for a weekend before
the city ordered it closed.

At that point, council members said they needed to know more before
deciding whether to adopt an ordinance. That led to Wednesday's meeting.

Now, the council is considering whether to allow medical marijuana
businesses in certain areas of the city and, if so, how strictly to
control them.

Kyle Castanon said he wanted to open a storefront in the city. He
urged the council to pass a local law that would allow dispensaries
but tightly control them.

Advocates claim bans against dispensaries are illegal because they
conflict with Prop. 215, which allows the use of medical marijuana.

City leaders across the state are watching a court case involving
Anaheim's ban. That case is expected to determine whether they are
allowed under state law, said City Attorney Julie Hayward Biggs.