VALLEJO POT DISPENSARY MEETING DRAWS HEATED OPINIONS

A Vallejo neighborhood watch group concerned about medical marijuana
dispensary proliferation downtown called on Fighting Back Partnership
to facilitate a public discussion Monday night.

In response, more than 60 people piled into the Joseph Room at the
John F. Kennedy Library with sometimes competing visions of medical
marijuana sales in Vallejo. The mixed group of concerned residents,
community members, dispensary owners and patients shared one thing,
however: The desire to question and challenge each other during a
mostly civil discourse.

Fighting Back Partnership's Weed and Seed Coordinator John Allen took
a verbal lashing when he showed a photograph of two young
"healthy-looking" young men in front of a city marijuana dispensary
and cast doubt on their need for pot. Many audience members pointed
out that it is difficult to tell what others' ailments might be.

"A 'destination city' should not be for the purchase of drugs. That
is our reputation," Allen's slideshow stated.

Santa Rosa attorney Ken Beyries represents the California Collective
Care dispensary. He said a month-old eight-member Vallejo dispensary
owners' group agree that appropriate zoning restrictions and taxation
above standard sales tax are reasonable.

Other residents raised concerns that a recent increase in crime
seemingly has been tied to an increase in foot traffic to the dispensaries.

Dispensary defenders said the city needs to regulate them, with
Beyries denying that their sites draw more crime than a 7-Eleven or
bank. In fact, at least two dispensary managers claimed that area
crime has fallen since their arrival.

Downtown business owner LaVonne Sallee said that the reason some
businesses fail has nothing to do with dispensaries. She urged the
audience to keep an open mind on the issue and people involved.

Four Vallejo City Council members appeared at the meeting -- with
Councilwoman Joanne Schivley entering after Mayor Osby Davis and
Councilwoman Erin Hannigan and Marti Brown had left. The city
leaders, however, sat mostly without comment during the meeting.
Brown briefly acknowledged that the issue is "a real lightning rod"
and said the city should look into regulating dispensaries and
creating "clear, transparent policy now."

The night meeting marks the only significant public discourse on the
issue since dispensaries began multiplying in Vallejo in recent years.

Last week, the Bencia City Council voted unanimously to ban medical
marijuana dispensaries, just as an 18-month moratorium against such
establishments is set to expire next month.

In outlawing the dispensaries, Benicia joins fellow Solano County
cities Dixon and Fairfield. Vacaville is studying the issue.