COUNTY MAINTAINS STATUS 'NO' FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

With time running out on their emergency moratorium preventing any
and all new medical marijuana dispensaries from opening up in the
unincorporated areas of the county, Santa Barbara County Supervisors
voted unanimously this week to extend the de facto ban for another
year. Citing the usual suspects of confusing regulatory mandates and
a stark uptick in alleged dispensary related busts by the County
Sheriffs Department in the past year, the supervisors - extending the
moratorium they first enacted last January for the maximum amount of
time possible under the law - bought themselves some much needed time
as staff works to develop a draft ordinance that would officially
explain what the County's policy is towards such cannabis clubs.

Interestingly enough, with a handful of grandfathered-in clubs
operating in various parts of Goleta and Summerland under county
jurisdiction, including two that have been the subject of
investigations and arrests by authorites in recent months, Supervisor
Salud Carbajal led the charge as the Supes expressed a certain amount
of frustration towards staff in regards to how much or, more
accurately, how little is currently known about what clubs existed
prior to the moratorium, the nature of their business (especially as
it pertains to ganja-charged edibles) and what, if any, clubs may
have illegally opened up since the moratorium. Supervisor Janet Wolf
took it even further when she, hinting at how she might vote on a
potential ordinance on the matter, opined, "If I had my druthers I
would like a complete ban."