MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKERS AIR VIEWS AT TEMPE COUNCIL SESSION

A crowd of medical marijuana supporters attended a Tempe City Council
meeting to demand that council members respect the "will of the
voters" who passed Proposition 203 in November.

The law makes it legal in Arizona to sell and grow marijuana for
medical use and for people with a doctor's prescription to use the
drug. Thursday was the first public hearing to review an ordinance
regulating where, when and how medical marijuana dispensaries operate
in Tempe.

The council is expected to vote on the ordinance at its next meeting
scheduled for Jan. 27.

Many of the medical marijuana advocates took issue with the proposed
Tempe ordinance requiring dispensaries be located only in industrial
areas and operate only in the daytime.

Aaron Smith of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association argued that
the ordinance would stigmatize medical-marijuana dispensaries and the
people who depend on them to ease chronic pain.

"We want (dispensaries) to have a patient focus . . . a medical focus.
And by pushing these off in industrial zones . . . you're not going to
get the medical-patient focus that you want," he said.

Mayor Hugh Hallman said he respected Smith and others' arguments but
that Prop. 203 narrowly passed and the council had to consider the
split viewpoints on the issue.

Hallman stressed that he and other council members are sympathetic to
people who use doctor-prescribed medical marijuana to alleviate pain.
He added that several council members have loved ones who have battled
cancer, glaucoma or other illnesses that doctors consider marijuana
helpful in minimizing suffering.

Smith said Tempe should "implement the law in accordance with the will
of the voters and the intent behind the law.

"I would suggest these are medical facilities and should be treated as
such. There are no restrictive hour requirements on other medical
facilities so I don't see why we are treating a medical facility
differently than we would treat another clinic or medical provider."

Supporters argued that restricting hours would make it difficult for
people who worked days to get to their medication. Councilwoman Shana
Ellis suggested they visit dispensaries on the weekends.

Others argued that forcing dispensaries and grow facilities to operate
in the same building with only one exit would prove to be a safety
hazard.

Hallman said keeping the facilities under one roof with a single exit
would enhance security.