SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY PLANNERS RECOMMEND POT DISPENSARY BAN

The San Bernardino County Planning Commission voted Thursday to
recommend a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries over the objections
of more than two dozen patients and medical marijuana advocates.

Opponents of the ban gathered on the sidewalk in front of the County
Government Center before the meeting to protest the proposed ban and
what they expected to be a decision not to allow them to speak at the
commission meeting. Some carried signs saying "Your refusal to
implement state law is killing people" and "Legal medical marijuana now."

In the end, after consulting with county lawyers, the commissioners
allowed them to speak. They told commissioners that a provision in
the proposed law that would prohibit outdoor marijuana cultivation
poses a hardship. Some also contended that banning dispensaries would
encourage medical marijuana users to turn to drug dealers for their medicine.

"What our regulation is about is not about your use of medical
marijuana," Commissioner Audrey Mathews said. "Our regulation is
about land use. You can outdoor cultivate as long it is covered and
has four walls," she said.

The hearing became testy at times, with medical marijuana advocates
accusing the commissioners of ignoring their medical needs and of
aiding the cause of drug cartels. One speaker was escorted out of the
meeting room by a sheriff's deputy after lingering at the microphone
beyond the three-minute time limit.

A two-year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the county
is set to expire in June. It had been enacted after a federal court
ruled against the county in its challenge of a state law legalizing
medical marijuana passed by voters in 1996.

County planning-staff members contend that a federal law still stands
that categorizes marijuana as a dangerous drug. With 19 of San
Bernardino County's 24 incorporated cities having already enacted
permanent dispensary bans, county Principal Planner Judy Tatman
warned the commission that unincorporated areas could become a magnet
for pot distributors.

The proposed ordinance would outlaw dispensaries, defining them as
any group of three or more people involved in cultivating or
distributing marijuana.

It also would ban patients from growing marijuana outdoors. The only
exception would be at state health facilities, such as nursing homes
or hospices.

Lanny Swerdlow, a nurse and medical marijuana advocate who helped
organize Thursday's protest, said he expects advocates to mount a
legal challenge if the Board of Supervisors enacts the ban.

He challenged claims by law enforcement agencies that crime would go
up if dispensaries opened, quoting a Denver study that showed a
decline in crime after dispensaries opened there.