MARIJUANA REGULATIONS GET GREEN LIGHT

If the sign of a good compromise is general discontent on all sides,
Santa Barbara city leaders may have finally reached an accord on the
hazy issue of medical marijuana dispensaries.

With only one councilmember voting in dissent, the council passed a
set of revised regulations yesterday that further restrict the
operation of marijuana shops in town. Under the new rules, only three
dispensaries will be permitted and they must operate as true
nonprofit collectives, among other restrictions.

In order to garner the necessary five votes to pass the new
regulations, the council agreed to vote next week to place an
outright ban of dispensaries on the November ballot at a cost of $40,000.

"I think it's the best solution to get some final closure on this,"
Mayor Helene Schneider said.

Despite reaching the deal after a series of heated hearings during
recent months, city leaders continued to spar over the merits of city
regulations versus a ban on dispensaries.

Councilmember Dale Francisco reiterated a common message he has
hammered home throughout the raging debate on medical marijuana shops
- -- specifically that state law only allows cultivation and possession
of marijuana by legitimate patients and their primary caregivers.

"It has never allowed, nor contemplated, retail marijuana sales," he
said, arguing that the city could have solved the issue long ago by
taking the "common-sense solution" of an outright ban.

In customary form, Councilmember Das Williams fired his own barbs at
the concept of a ban, noting that other locales that have prohibited
storefront operations are being inundated by marijuana delivery services.

"A ban will chase collectives back out into the neighborhoods," he
said, holding up several newspapers from neighboring regions with
advertisements for marijuana deliveries. "Whatever the material
intention of a ban is, it's not working in Ventura."

However, he said the compromise appears to be the "least wrong"
option for the city to pursue.

Under the new laws, which will go into effect 30 days after being
officially adopted next week, dispensary operators would be allowed
to distribute cannabis to qualified patients and primary caregivers
who live within Santa Barbara County.

Storefront operators would have to keep membership and financial
records, and must meet strict nonprofit standards. In addition to
establishing buffer zones around schools and parks, the regulations
would prohibit shops from opening within 500 feet of major drug and
alcohol recovery centers.

Along with other storefronts that had been "grandfathered in" under
prior laws, two city-permitted dispensaries currently operating on
the Eastside would have to relocate or close within six months.

Sefton Graham, who operates one of those dispensaries -- the
Greenlight Collective, 631 Olive St. -- said legitimate patients will
be robbed of safe access to their medication as a result.

"It's a de facto ban," he said, noting that it took him a year and
three months to receive his current permit. "We would move if we
thought there was somewhere to go."

City officials had previously planned to pare down the number of
dispensaries operating on the Eastside through attrition, as only one
storefront will be allowed in any given geographical area of the city
under the new laws. But leaders changed that regulation as part of
their last-minute horse trading, instead requiring the two
dispensaries to reapply for a permit.

Graham said he operates as a true nonprofit with a focus on
compassion instead of revenues, and has never had any issues with
local law enforcement.

In voting against the compromise yesterday, Councilmember Grant House
cited the impact of the regulations on Graham and the operators of
the Green Well, at 500 N. Milpas St., and argued the laws would
penalize the two dispensaries that have been working in good faith
with the city.