MOBILE MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES MOCK COMMON SENSE

California's medical marijuana mess keeps getting more muddled. Not
only are dispensaries popping up everywhere, now the lucrative trade
is increasingly going mobile.

Sidestepping outright bans or moratoriums on storefront dispensaries
in about 225 California cities, purveyors are bringing marijuana
products directly to homes, offices and even coffee shop parking lots,
or sending shipments by mail or courier.

And business is booming, according to California Watch's report in
last Sunday's Bee. The number of delivery services advertising on one
popular website has tripled in the last 18 months to nearly 760.

The situation cries out for a sensible, overarching solution that
makes marijuana available to those with legitimate medical needs,
while weeding out the shady operators handing out pot to anyone
willing to pay for it.

Regrettably, the only current plan on the table is to completely
legalize marijuana and sweeten the deal with the promise of lots of
tax revenue, as proponents of a November ballot initiative would have
it.

Through another ballot initiative Proposition 215 in 1996 voters
approved the "compassionate" use of marijuana for cancer patients and
others. Then this year, the California Supreme Court threw out limits
on how much pot that patients can grow or possess.

Cities across the state have been stuck with the ensuing mess. On
Monday, Los Angeles began closing down 400 dispensaries, trying to
keep them away from schools and parks, and a councilman is seeking to
ban pot couriers.

The Sacramento City Council voted earlier this month to extend a
moratorium on new dispensaries until regulations including a limit
on their number are written and take effect by year's end. The
proposed ordinance would require delivery services to be tied to a
permanent dispensary that has a city permit. That makes eminent sense.

Still, the mobile dispensaries and delivery services are opening
another front in the weed wars. In the current confused state of
affairs, common sense and the rule of law are victims as well.