MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES BANNED BY CITY OF BENICIA

BENICIA -- After a lengthy public hearing lasting until nearly
midnight, the City Council unanimously decided Tuesday to ban medical
marijuana dispensaries in Benicia.

The law will take effect after the city's 18-month moratorium on such
establishments expires next month. A second vote to formally adopt
the ban will be held later this month.

But the council also voted 4-1 to review the controversial issue at a
future meeting -- probably after the November municipal election --
to decide if a public process should be undertaken to see if most
residents might support allowing dispensaries.

Without any clear public mandate one way or the other, no council
members seemed willing to take a stand that might upset voters.

Three council seats will be up for grabs in November.

At the same time, though, all struggled with how to respond to last
week's unexpected, unanimous planning commission rejection of city
staff's recommended ban. Further complicating the highly politicized
matter was a parade of pot dispensary advocates stepping to the
podium Tuesday night.

They included Ricki Ingersoll, 66, of Benicia. Ingersoll said she
travels to an Oakland dispensary called Harborside Health Center to
acquire medical cannabis to treat her Post-polio syndrome pain
symptoms. The disease affects polio survivors years after recovery.

"It is difficult and burdensome to me and many people to drive to
Harborside," Ingersoll said, adding that Vallejo's unregulated clubs
pose a security risk for seniors.

"We need to draft an ordinance for Benicia (to allow a regulated
dispensary)," she said. "It's not a complicated problem. It's not
hard to figure out."

At the end of the night, the council majority acknowledged that there
could be support for allowing tightly regulated medical marijuana
dispensaries. Other cities, while perceived as more progressive than
Benicia, already have gone that route.

However, the council backed off making the issue a priority anytime
soon, even after City Manager Brad Kilger said a strategy for
gathering more public feedback could be developed within months.

Council members Mark Hughes and Tom Campbell indicated they would not
support anything short of a total ban. But their colleagues expressed
an interest in conducting public meetings and possibly creating a
task force to study the issue.

Hughes and Campbell both expressed concerns about the perceived ease
of acquiring medical marijuana cards for illegitimate purposes.
Hughes also said that opening the door to pot clubs might send a
message to youth that the city has a relaxed attitude about
recreational use of the drug.

"We already have a drug and alcohol problem in this community,"
Hughes said, citing a recent survey that found the number of Benicia
seventh-graders who say they've smoked marijuana has more than
doubled from 5 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in 2010.

Campbell said he feared that dispensaries could negatively impact
neighboring businesses in commercial or industrial centers. However,
he said after the meeting he'd be OK with a public process to study
the issue, but added "It would be a long haul to get me to go along
with" allowing pot to be sold.

While initially not high on the city's list of priorities, the pot
club question has generated a surprising amount of interest in recent
days after the planning commission's vote against a ban. The
commission instead recommended taking steps to create an ordinance to
allow dispensaries.

Rarely has the council overruled a unanimous commission
recommendation. But in this case, council members agreed with city
officials that the ban should be passed before the city's 18-month
moratorium on medical marijuana clubs expires on March 20.

City officials said there wouldn't be enough time for a thorough
public process before the temporary ban expired. Leaving the issue
unresolved could invite litigation in the absence of any clear policy
or regulations, City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin advised the council.

However, given the planning commission's vote, council members Mike
Ioakimedes, Elizabeth Patterson and Alan Schwartzman seemed inclined,
to varying degrees, to study the issue further in community forums.
But they differed over how and when the process should be initiated.

Mayor Patterson supported a staff recommendation to consider
initiating a possible public outreach strategy within the next few months.

Ioakimedes suggested that the council place an expiration date on the
ban in order to move the process along. But he later dropped the idea.

Schwartzman seemed less interested in making the issue a priority,
considering the city's pressing budget issues and limited staff resources.

All but Patterson agreed. Afterward, Patterson said she didn't see a
need to delay getting more public feedback on the issue, since that
seemed to be the council majority's desire after Tuesday's public hearing.

Schwartzman, who many observers think may challenge Patterson in
November's mayoral election, suggested that the city should hold a
referendum on the issue. But he added that it shouldn't happen until
after the November election.