FRESNO COUNTY FAVORS MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOP BAN

Fresno County will shut down medical marijuana dispensaries if an
ordinance being considered today by the Board of Supervisors moves
forward.

The proposal would ban the retail sale of marijuana and limit
cultivation to a handful of industrial areas. Grow sites, under the
new law, would be tightly controlled.

Currently, none of the more than 15 known dispensaries in the
unincorporated county meet the terms of the proposed ordinance. The
proposal would give the dispensaries, the bulk of which are in the
county island of Tarpey Village and the town of Friant, six months to
comply, which essentially means shutting down.

Managers and patrons of the shops are vowing to fight to save their
businesses and the local marijuana trade.

"This is a bad idea," said Stan Cummins, who heads the California
Medicinal Cooperative in Friant. "It's going to push patients to have
to go someplace else, to another county, to another city, out on the
street possibly."

Advocates of marijuana laud its medical benefits, citing reduced eye
pressure for people with glaucoma to inducing hunger in AIDS patients.
Critics of the drug, however, dispute the claims and frown upon its
widespread recreational use. And critics of the dispensaries say that
the rate of petty crime and recreational drug use spikes in their
neighborhoods.

County planners say the proposed ordinance strikes a balance between
public unease and allowing the trade to continue, albeit in more
limited fashion.

Regulating marijuana doesn't come easy, though. While a 1996 state
initiative allows marijuana to be grown, distributed and smoked for
medical purposes, the conditions are not well-defined and come despite
a federal prohibition on the drug.

As a result, cities and counties have been left to navigate an
uncertain legal landscape. A patchwork of different regulations exists
across the state with some local ordinances tied up in court.

In Fresno County, most cities ban storefront marijuana dispensaries,
and the proposed county ordinance would do the same, with a caveat.
The county law would allow marijuana to be grown in industrial-zoned
parts of the unincorporated county, on parcels at least 1,000 feet
from most gathering spots including schools, parks churches and even
"adult" businesses.

County officials have identified four areas where cultivation could
legally take place: parts of Malaga; along Highway 99 between Fowler
and Selma and Selma and Kingsburg; west Fresno County near
Tranquillity and San Joaquin; and outside Coalinga.

Since the law prohibits retail sales, distribution would have to take
place through collectives in which the sites are owned by members and
serve only members.

Most of the existing dispensaries in the county similarly operate as
collectives, though the Sheriff's Office last month raided five such
facilities allegedly operating as for-profit businesses.

Over the years, the Sheriff's Office also has fielded complaints from
neighbors of dispensaries about traffic, public urination and people
driving under the influence. Other concerns include people using the
drug recreationally instead of for a valid medical reason.

The Board of Supervisors has been sympathetic to these
issues.

After enacting temporary moratoriums on new dispensaries and outdoor
marijuana growers last year, board members have indicated that they
want permanent restrictions put in place.

"What we wanted to avoid is what we're dealing with now ... crime, and
the effect on neighbors," Supervisor Henry Perea said. "I'm supportive
of moving this ordinance forward."

Perea's colleagues have expressed similar support for limiting the
marijuana trade.

The ordinance up for consideration requires two public hearings before
taking effect, the first of which is today and the second scheduled
Aug. 9.

Cummins, the operator of the dispensary in Friant, and other medical
marijuana advocates are threatening to sue if the ordinance is adopted
and they're forced to close. They argue that county leaders are
overstepping their authority and trying to ban something permitted
under state law.

"They're making up their own rules and regulations," Cummins said. "I
think they're shooting themselves in the foot."

Updated 11:55 a.m.:

Dozens packed the Fresno County Board of Supervisors' chambers this morning to protest efforts to rein in the local medical marijuana trade.

But the objections fell short.

Amid the vocal and at times unruly crowd, supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance that would shut down the county's more than 15 storefront pot dispensaries and confine marijuana cultivation to a handful of industrial areas.

The law must be voted on a second time before taking effect. The second hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.

"This ordinance does nothing but stop the people who need to use from using," said Donna Standard, an attorney who represents medical marijuana users. "It's over-broad and it violates people's rights."

Standard was among many in the legal community who vowed to file suit.

Users themselves pleaded with the board to recognize the drug's benefits and maintain their access.

"Medical marijuana helps me," said Donna Van Noort. "It keeps me from having to take a sleeping pill in the middle of the night. It helps me calm down when I'm in so much pain I shake.

"If you close these shops, I'm out on the street," she said. "I need a safe place. I'm an old lady."

The ordinance gives existing dispensaries six months to come into compliance, which essentially means shutting down since none meet the new terms.

Supervisors claimed that problems with the dispensaries, from petty crime and illegal drug use, were too much to justify allowing the dispensaries to stay.

A number of county residents, though quieter than the marijuana advocates, supported the board's action.

"These establishments do not belong next-door to residential neighborhoods... and that's what we have," said Merilee Amos.