YREKA'S DISPENSARY MORATORIUM CONTINUED

Yreka, Calif. - On the heels of the defeat of Proposition 19, the
"Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," the Yreka City
Council voted Thursday night to continue its moratorium on medical
marijuana dispensaries within the city limits for another year.

The current ordinance, adopted on Nov. 19, 2009, is set to expire this
month, according to the agenda worksheet provided to the council.

The ordinance adopted Thursday, listed as an urgency ordinance, will
continue the moratorium for another year to await the outcome of
various decisive issues on marijuana use, according to City Attorney
Mary Frances McHugh.

McHugh said that thus far the council has been adopting urgency
ordinances so that the city might have clearer direction before
attempting to adopt a permanent ordinance on the issue. She explained
that that direction would likely come from the outcome of the
proposition 19 vote, the pending appeal in the case Qualified Patients
Association v. City of Anaheim and various trial court reviews of
dispensary closures.

In Anaheim, the plaintiffs argued that an ordinance banning the
operation of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city was preempted
by state law allowing the facilitation and procuring of medical
marijuana by qualified patients.

The trial court found in favor of the city, stating that federal law
banning the sale of marijuana preempts state law on the matter.

Currently, the case is awaiting review by the California Supreme
Court.

The urgency ordinance extending the moratorium is the last that the
council can pass by law, at which point there will no longer be a
moratorium, pending the city's decision of whether or not to pursue a
permanent ordinance, based on the outcome of the aforementioned cases.