SUPERVISORS TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

In an effort to slow the spread of medical marijuana dispensaries,
the Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday whether to ban the
facilities in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County.

The vote comes as Los Angeles and smaller cities throughout the
region are working to limit the dispensaries' growth, raising
concerns they may move into the unincorporated parts of the county
where 1.5 million people live, said Paul Novak, planning deputy to
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

"Supervisor Antonovich is concerned about the impact of these
facilities on the surrounding neighborhoods," Novak said. "You have
nuisance issues, crime issues and people under the influence of
marijuana driving through local communities."

But Kris Hermes, spokesman for the Oakland-based pro-medical
marijuana group Americans for Safe Access, said the county hasn't
experienced problems with the dispensaries and already has a 2006
ordinance in place that regulates and requires them to obtain
conditional use permits.

"We as an organization have for years opposed outright bans on
medical marijuana dispensaries and have gone to court on numerous
occasions, the latest of which is a case stemming from a ban in
Anaheim," Hermes said. "We have folks working on this in the Los
Angeles area and they are mobilizing patients to express to the Board
of Supervisors that a ban is not appropriate."

In 2006, the supervisors adopted land use regulations for medical
marijuana dispensaries to distribute marijuana for medical purposes
to qualified patients with a doctor's authorization.

Since then, more than 100 cities and nine counties in California have
banned the dispensaries amid concerns about crime and other problems.

In July, the supervisors directed the Chief Executive Office to work
with the Department of Regional Planning to draft an amendment to the
2006 ordinance banning the dispensaries in unincorporated parts of
the county. In September, the Regional Planning Commission held a
public hearing on the amendment and voted to recommend approval of
the change to the supervisors.

Although no dispensaries are currently operating in unincorporated
parts of the county with a conditional use permit, some are operating
in violation of the county ordinance, said Karen Simmons, a
supervising regional planner with the Department of Regional Planning.

"We have a zone enforcement task force that is currently looking into
those and closing them up," Simmons said.