CITY COUNCIL ATTEMPTS TO CIRCUMVENT VOTERS

In a move to further thwart the will of California voters, San Diego's
legislature is looking to approve a virtual ban on legal marijuana
dispensaries within city limits. The Council aims to make legal access
impossible by placing unreasonable restrictions on where dispensaries
can operate.

The proposed ban requires all legal marijuana dispensaries to be at
least 600 feet from schools, parks, churches, libraries and each
other. Dispensaries will be restricted to mostly industrial areas far
from where most consumers live. Meanwhile, the 165 already legally
operating dispensaries in San Diego will be closed until they can
relocate and reapply for a new permit, a process estimated to take
more than a year. Many will be unable to reopen because the ban
effectively limits the number of legal locations for dispensaries to
operate.

This flies in the face of the voter-approved Proposition 215, which
guarantees safe and legal access to medical marijuana. If the new laws
are enacted, legal users will be forced to drive far out into heavily
industrial areas. Not only can terminally ill patients who rely on
medical marijuana simply not make that kind of a trip, but there are
also other risks present. Fewer dispensaries mean more predictability,
and more susceptibility to patients being followed and robbed. Even
further, if legislators are actively trying to place barriers between
legal users and dispensaries, it's only logical medical users may
instead turn to illegal dealers in closer proximity.

With this proposal, legislators have once again ignored the potential
benefits dispensaries contribute to the city. Working to put every
roadblock possible to prevent a legally functioning enterprise only
wastes valuable tax dollars. Much like cigarettes and alcohol, taxing
medical marijuana could contribute millions of dollars to a stagnant
and suffering city budget. San Diego is on the verge of bankruptcy;
we're laying off teachers, "browning out" our fire and police
departments and have potholes the size of Smart cars. But naturally
it's medical marijuana that represents the greatest threat to
"America's Finest City," right?

We should instead look up to Oakland, which in 2009 was the first to
institute a tax on medical marijuana sales. In just one year, the
modest tax of $18 for every $1,000 of medical marijuana sold brought
in an estimated $300,000 in new revenue. A similar tax could easily be
enacted in San Diego, which accounts has far more dispensaries than
Oakland. Annually, a 10 percent tax on gross marijuana sales could
easily result in millions of dollars in new tax revenue.

We're in the worst budget crisis our city has ever seen, with a legal,
untapped source of revenue. Can anyone tell me why we're not
capitalizing on this?

This common sense approach is a win--win for everyone involved. The
city gets a much-needed new revenue stream, dispensaries and business
owners are allowed to stay open and medical users can continue to
purchase marijuana in a safe, legal way. Unfortunately, the ideology
of a few city councilmen is keeping the city legislature from a simple
and smart solution.

I'm not claiming everyone with a medical marijuana card is a cancer
patient or even seriously ill. Many sufferers of "headaches" and
"insomnia" have applied for and received cards. But there are still
many users with a legitimate need for medical marijuana. Many patients
have vocally defended their right to safe access by attending rallies
and delivering speeches to the city council. But fears of kush-crazed
20-somethings roaming the city streets with bloodshot eyes and a
hunger for Mexican food have drowned out all else. Ironically, it's
our city council that has reefer madness in this situation.

The actual demographics of cardholders shouldn't even make a
difference. When voters took to the polls in 1996, they understood the
risk of medical marijuana abuse. Yet they voted to approve medical
marijuana anyway. To pretend the abuse is a new phenomenon that
justifies a de facto ban on a legal industry is disingenuous and
ignores the clear will of California's voters.

City legislators worry that if we allow medical marijuana to remain
legal, crime and vandalism will skyrocket. However, the only real
crime on the rise has been the shameless manipulation of laws by the
San Diego City Council. It has driven the city to the ground for its
own gains. Here is a chance for it to solve part of our budget crisis.
Whether our legislators can sober up and do the right thing, however,
remains to be seen.