VENTURA REJECTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA COOPERATIVES

A proposal to allow medical marijuana cooperatives in the city of
Ventura went up in smoke Monday night.

The Ventura City Council rejected the idea and instead extended an
existing moratorium on such establishments, pending the outcome of a
November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California.

The vote was 5-2, with Deputy Mayor Mike Tracy and Councilman Jim
Monahan opposing. They wanted a permanent ban on marijuana cooperatives.

The council, along with the city attorney and city manager, said
approving medical marijuana cooperatives would open the floodgates
for illegal resale of the drug, increase crime and become a costly
financial burden on the city. It is nearly impossible, they said, to
draw a distinction between a cooperative that sells to sick people
and a for-profit business that sells marijuana to anybody.

We simply are not capable without substantial fees to enter into the
process of distinguishing legitimate medicinal marijuana cooperatives
from the for-profit dispensaries," said City Manager Rick Cole. "To
take on a major, groundbreaking initiative in this fiscal year is challenging."

A slew of law enforcement officials spoke in opposition of allowing
medical marijuana cooperatives. The establishments often act as
fronts for illegal marijuana outfits where the drug is sold to people
without medical needs, they said.

Many storefront distribution centers simply serve as a cover for the
sale of marijuana to healthy people," said Greg Brose, chief deputy
district attorney in Ventura County. "From the standpoint of drafting
the ordinance it is difficult. From the standpoint of enforcing the
ordinance, it is extremely difficult."

Brose said he doesn't know of a single successful medical marijuana
cooperative anywhere.

Officials also said that marijuana cooperatives often become havens
for crime. Several officials pointed to the city of Santa Barbara,
which has approved three cooperatives within the city limits, as a
model for what to avoid.

Their narcotics division spends a majority of their time dealing with
illegal dispensaries," Ventura Police Chief Ken Corney told the
council. He said one Santa Barbara dispensary has more than 13,000 clients.

Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, also slammed Santa Barbara,
saying the city had no quality controls on what was being purchased
and warned the council not to follow its path.

Ventura doesn't want to be in the position of being a Mecca for
marijuana dispensaries, as Santa Barbara is now," Nava said.

But members of the public expressed a different opinion. They said it
was immoral and heartless for the council to reject legal
cooperatives. Not only do sick people need a legal place to purchase
marijuana, but the city could benefit financially from taxing the drug.

A majority of Ventura voters embraced Proposition 215, the
Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which permits patients to legally use
medicinal marijuana in California.

I do believe there is a way to do it legally and raise revenues for
our city," said resident Berta Steele. "I don't think we will become
the Mecca. I think we can control it. It's an opportunity to explore
the issue and make it work."

But city officials said pursuing medical marijuana cooperatives was
an idea full of pitfalls.

Cole called the proposal "extraordinarily thorny" and "land
mine-ridden," coming at a time of severe budget cuts.

It's not impossible, but I can't imagine us doing it well," Cole said.

Other members of the council were flat out against marijuana
cooperatives, now or in the future.

Selling marijuana in storefronts is not in the best interests of
Ventura County residents," said Councilwoman Christy Weir.