COUNCIL SAYS NO TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES IN TEMECULA

The Temecula City Council sidestepped California Proposition 215, also
known as the Compassionate Use Act, at last Tuesday's meeting and voted
unanimously to amend the city's municipal code and prohibit the
establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.

Despite an impassioned plea to council members by Martin Victor, Sr., an
advocate for the dispensaries, the council opted to follow City Attorney
Peter Thorson's advice to implement the ban.

Citing a "very substantial conflict between the [California] initiative
measure and federal law," Thorson's argument centered around the "land use
ordinance" prohibiting the establishment of such dispensaries. The
ordinance "in no way deals with an individual's rights to use medical
marijuana," Thorson said.

California voters in 1996 approved Prop 215, which allows small amounts of
marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes.

Victor had petitioned the council to leave open the door for establishment
of medical marijuana dispensaries so medical marijuana patients are not
forced to travel long distances to obtain their medications. "Right now in
our little town," Victor advised, "we have six patients... who have to go
80 miles to get their medicine. Do you go 80 miles... or do you go right
down to Rite Aid?" Victor asked the council.

"Why should any sick cancer patient -- AIDS patient -- multiple sclerosis
patient have to go 80 miles to get their medicine? Right now, as a
cultivator -- as a co-op -- I take care of 63 patients who live in our
neighborhoods. They can't go [anywhere] to get their medicine. I want you
to help them," Victor continued.

Victor knows firsthand the frustration and expense involved in traveling an
intolerable distance to obtain medication. Afflicted personally with
Fibromyalgia, a complex disease with symptoms that include "widespread
chronic body pain," Victor's wife suffers from multiple sclerosis and liver
disease and is confined to a wheelchair. "Instead of fighting us, help us.
Don't do this," Victor implored.

"When we make a decision, we have to deal with how it affects the city as a
whole," Council Member Mike Naggar responded in defending the council's
decision. "You have to... make a decision that serves the greater good.
Right now, there's a conflict in the law. And until that conflict can get
resolved, I have to go with the higher law. And that's the federal law."
The other council members iterated Naggar's position with minor variations.

In other business, the Community Services District, with President Jeff
Comerchero presiding, voted to approve the development of a community dog
park on three-quarters of an acre on the southwest corner of Margarita
Community Park. Necessary improvements to the park, located off Margarita
Road between Rancho California Road and Solana Way, should be completed in
time for a "late fall" opening of the dog park, according to Community
Services Director Herman Parker.

During the city council reports, Council Member Jeff Comerchero requested
that the existing fee structure for the skateboard park be reviewed to see
if "we could live without the revenue." Following the example set by
eliminating the entrance fee to the city's swimming pool, Comerchero
suggested that the fee for the skateboard park also be eliminated. The
suggestion will be reviewed during the upcoming budget workshop.

Mayor Ron Roberts advised that the Riverside County Transportation
Commission (RCTC) voted last week to complete a study on "a commuter rail
or a high-speed rail system between Corona and Temecula... along the I-15
corridor, which we hope will tie in with SANDAG, which is San Diego County,
to complete the process all the way from Corona to San Diego."

"This is in addition to the Metrolink San Jacinto line that we're going to
build that will... be up and running within two and a half years. It will
go from Riverside to... Perris at the [Highway] 74 off-ramp," Roberts
concluded.