MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE COULD BE ILLEGAL IN KINGSBURG

Medical marijuana dispensaries and medical cooperatives and the
outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana could be illegal soon in
Kingsburg. The Kingsburg City Council voted Dec. 1 to begin the
process to not allow any of these medical marijuana uses in Kingsburg.

The new rule will take effect after the City Council approves the
second reading of the ordinance on Dec. 15 and the ordinance is
published, said Don Pauley, Kingsburg city manager. The council had
previously voted in November and December 2009 approving moratoriums
on not allowing the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries
and cooperatives in Kingsburg after the city had received inquiries
about opening them. Those moratoriums expired Nov. 1 this year.

This proposed new city law came about after the November defeat of
Proposition 19 -- the regulate, control and tax marijuana act.
According to Kingsburg City Attorney Michael Noland, in light of the
defeat of Proposition 19, federal and state laws continue to prohibit
the possession, sale, distribution and cultivation of marijuana.

Noland on Dec. 1 told council members how other cities are handling
the medical marijuana issue and the court cases that have happened
after establishing those laws. He said in one such case the court
decided that it is OK for cities to restrict the operations of medical
marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana cooperatives and to not
have areas they can be allowed in.

Noland said that since several serious crimes have happened in Fresno
County over the outdoor cultivation of marijuana -- in September in
Fresno a man was shot allegedly stealing medical marijuana plants from
an outdoor garden -- Kingsburg should not allow outdoor medical
marijuana growing.

"Staff believes it is in the best interest of the citizens of the city
of Kingsburg and for their specific health, safety and welfare that
medical marijuana not be cultivated outdoors so as to attempt to
reduce, to the greatest extent possible, any criminal activity that
may result from the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana," Noland
wrote in a report to the council. He added that "it appears
cultivation of small amounts of medial marijuana...can be adequately
accomplished through indoor cultivation."

The city's new ruling adds a new section to the zoning ordinance
regarding medical marijuana. "It is a prohibited use in any zone
district in the city," Noland said.

In 1996, California voters approved a proposition allowing the
distribution and use of marijuana for doctor-approved medical reasons,
but the federal government then ruled that medical marijuana is illegal.