CITY BANS MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Morgan Hill joined 10 other cities in Santa Clara County that have
banned or declared moratoriums on medical marijuana facilities with a
unanimous vote in favor of a new ordinance at Wednesday's council meeting.

City staff said dispensaries throughout California that purvey medical
marijuana under the voter-approved 1996 state law known as Proposition
215 often run afoul of the law and are difficult to regulate.

Plus, citing numerous incidents of crime attracted to storefront
operations in San Jose, for example, police said banning dispensaries
would prevent potential violence and theft in Morgan Hill.

The most viable alternative would be to allow medical marijuana
dispensaries in the city, but with an ordinance that regulates them,
according to city staff. The council chose to ban them outright on a
4-0 vote, with council woman Marilyn Librers absent.

"To me this is a decision about cities' ability to make land use
decisions in our community," Councilman Larry Carr said. In these
tight budgetary times, we need to make those decisions on how we will
best use those resources with the way we zone and build out our city."

Police Chief David Swing said, based on recent incidents in San Jose
including a number of robberies at licensed dispensaries in that city,
"We anticipate a significant rise in crime, and high costs for
enforcement and prevention" if medical marijuana dispensaries are
allowed in Morgan Hill.

He also listed several incidents of unlicensed marijuana cultivation
that have been uncovered in Morgan Hill in recent months, though he
did not indicate if those were related to the state law allowing
marijuana gardening under specific conditions.

Ron Kirkish, a Gilroy resident and outspoken opponent of medical
marijuana, said dispensaries are "an easy target" for robberies and
violence because they often hold up to $250,000 worth of pot which can
easily be stolen and marketed illegally.

A representative of Californians for Drug Free Youth, Kirkish has been
active in persuading other cities in the Bay Area to ban medical
marijuana dispensaries, he said after the council meeting.

"I think it's a wonderful decision," he said of the Morgan Hill ban.
"We've been able to keep marijuana dispensaries out of all the
surrounding towns."

Vocal support for medical marijuana stores is not apparent in Morgan
Hill so far. Only one resident spoke against the ordinance when it was
proposed at a planning commission hearing earlier this month, from the
angle that it might circumvent the will of the voters who passed the
1996 law.

The local ordinance would not impact the ability of patients who are
prescribed medical marijuana in Morgan Hill to use or grow it for
their own use, or acquire it through legal means within state law,
deputy city attorney Jefferson Billingsley said. Such patients could
still gain medical marijuana from licensed caregivers or dispensaries
in other communities that allow and regulate them.

Furthermore, Swing added that an alternative to the plant form of
medical marijuana is already widely available locally, in a pill form
derived from THC, the active chemical of marijuana. That medication,
known as Marinol, is available at most pharmacies by
prescription.

The owner of a dispensary that operated in Gilroy for most of 2009 but
was shut down by vigorous law enforcement and bureaucratic efforts
declined to comment. Batzi Kuburovich, owner of the MediLeaf store,
did not want to comment on the broader issue of marijuana dispensaries
or an ongoing investigation into his facility initiated by the Santa
Clara County District Attorney's office last year.

The D.A.'s office did not return a phone call by press time to confirm
whether or not Kuburovich or any of the six others targeted by the
investigation have been charged with a crime. In Dec. 2010, more than
50 law enforcement officers raided MediLeaf stores in Morgan Hill,
Gilroy and San Jose. Also searched were the homes of the collective's
two founders - Kuburovich and Neil Forrest.

The city of Gilroy spent more than $200,000 in legal costs to shut
down MediLeaf, and passed its own ordinance banning medical marijuana
dispensaries shortly after it opened.