BAN SOUGHT ON POT DISPENSARIES

Worried that unincorporated Los Angeles County could increasingly be
favored by medical marijuana dispensaries excluded from other areas,
Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Tuesday proposed a ban on the outlets,
which would reverse a four-year-old county policy.

Aides to Antonovich noted that many cities in the county have banned
dispensaries or imposed moratoriums and the city of Los Angeles is
trying to shut down about 400. The supervisor's office has received
at least a dozen inquiries from Los Angeles dispensaries looking to
move to the county.

"Our concern is that dispensaries will look for new locations in our
unincorporated areas, and that would unduly burden residences and
business owners in those areas," said Tony Bell, the supervisor's spokesman.

Bell said Antonovich is also concerned about crime, as highlighted by
last week's killings of two dispensary workers in Los Angeles. "We
know from recent activities that there is a criminal element that is
attracted to dispensaries," he said.

The supervisors adopted an ordinance in 2006 that allows medical
marijuana dispensaries, but prohibits them within 1,000 feet of
churches, day-care centers, libraries, playgrounds, schools and other
sensitive uses. Antonovich was the only one of the five supervisors
to oppose it.

Antonovich also has been frustrated by dispensaries opening in his
district without seeking the required conditional use permit. Paul
Novak, the supervisor's planning deputy, said that between eight and
10 have opened without permission. He said that county officials have
expended considerable time and effort to close them, including
seeking court action in three or four cases. He said one of the
dispensaries had opened two doors from the Charter Oak library on
East Arrow Highway.

Novak noted that Lancaster and Palmdale in the largely unincorporated
northern part of the county have banned dispensaries, as have cities
such as Arcadia, Monrovia and Pasadena, which are near unincorporated
pockets of the county.

"The supervisor's had a concern about the issue for quite some time,"
Novak said. "We don't want to be the only one in a particular area
that doesn't have a ban."

The proposal will come before the supervisors on Tuesday.