COUNTY PROPOSES REGULATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Policy Makers And Dispensaries Hope To Make Medicine More Available To Patients

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will vote next month
regarding the regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries in
unincorporated areas of the county.

Set for March 15, the vote is considered an important step toward
creating guidelines for newer medical marijuana organizations.
Earlier this month, the county planning commission proposed the
policy, which is intended to increase access to medical marijuana.

The ordinance will enforce an 800-foot distance between dispensaries,
disallow them from growing marijuana on site, require them to
maintain proof of non-profit status, release the county from
liability of violating state or federal law, and prohibit advertising
outside of collective or cooperative membership.

While the city of Santa Cruz allows only two dispensaries in its
limits, the county is not setting a maximum number of medical
marijuana facilities. Instead, it outlines rules to regulate them.

The proposed regulations are intended to address patients' needs
while respecting the community's feelings about a controversial drug.

District 1 supervisor John Leopold emphasized his hope to see small,
localized collectives that can provide for themselves and their members.

The state has defined the legal amount of grown medical marijuana to
be 100 square feet of plants, unless otherwise recommended by a
physician. Leopold said industrial models considered by cities like
Oakland are legally questionable.

"We haven't defined it any greater than [100 square feet of growing
space per person]," Leopold said. "We're not sure that the law allows
that. We're looking for collective members to grow marijuana for
their collective."

Dispensaries are currently regulated under California state
guidelines, which some have called incomplete. There are few
entrepreneurial expectations set by the state other than maintaining
a non-profit status.

County supervisor Leopold said the lax approach of President Barack
Obama's administration in enforcing the federal prohibition of
medical marijuana has allowed for an unprecedented number of medical
marijuana facilities to materialize.

To address the potential of an over-concentration of dispensaries,
specific distance requirements from other medical marijuana
facilities are included in the proposed ordinance. Assistant county
planning director Wanda Williams explained the thought process behind
this part of the policy.

"By forcing medical marijuana facilities to be 800 feet from each
other, more patients will have access throughout the county,"
Williams said. "We do not want to see an over-concentration of them."

Leopold said regulation is necessary to bring the county's policy up
to speed with a rising number of dispensaries. He represents the
unincorporated communities of Live Oak, Soquel, the Summit area,
Santa Cruz Gardens and Carbonera.

"My sense about it is that it would be better to have order instead
of chaos," Leopold said. "We were basically winking and nodding at
businesses that were open. The policy of the county was a head in the
sand policy, which said they can't get permits therefore they can't
open. I felt we needed to come up with some rules."

District 3 supervisor Neal Coonerty said the county is supportive of
medical marijuana patients.

"We want to make sure patients have access to their medicine," he said.

Many dispensaries welcome regulation, noting the necessity for
keeping dispensaries non-profit. While the state of California does
require dispensaries to be non-profit, enforcement has proven difficult.

The Women and Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana was the first
collective to open in Santa Cruz. WAMM executive director Valerie
Corral said she hopes the policy, if enacted, will combat the problem
of profiteering.

"Profiteering has become the most important issue rather than serving
the sick," Corral said. "It's a plant -- you don't have to be a
genius to grow it. When you get sick, you become financially
compromised as well. What happens to many people who are seriously
ill is that they can't pay the high prices."

Corral said she would like to see organizations making large profits
use the money to subsidize patients who cannot afford their medicine.

Advertising for medical marijuana would be limited under the policy.
Some patients hope this would make the price of medicine decrease.
While the original text of the ordinance prohibited all advertising,
Williams said a change was made to allow internal advertisement.

"Medical marijuana dispensaries can advertise to their cooperative or
collective members," Williams said. "We felt there was no need to
advertise to the whole world."

Leopold said advertising to the general public has negative effects
on patients and the community.

"Advertising for medicine has not been a healthy thing for our
country," Leopold said. "Drug companies have to pay for that
marketing campaign. I have to pay more for my medications at the
pharmacy. It does not help the patient in any way."

Coonerty, county supervisor, said the ordinance is an attempt to
facilitate a positive relationship between cooperative and patient.
The government has a responsibility to create harmony between
businesses and the neighborhoods they reside in, he said.

"It's typical in commercial environments that regulation happens,"
Coonerty said. "Government comes in and makes sure there is no
adverse impact on the community."