CITY TO VOTE ON PROHIBITING POT SHOPS IN TOWN

BARSTOW More than a year after it put a hold on the issue, City
Council will vote at its next meeting whether to prohibit marijuana
dispensaries in Barstow.

The Council voted 3-2 Monday in favor of voting on a marijuana
dispensary ordinance in two weeks, with Mayor Joe Gomez and
Councilman Willie Hailey opposing the motion. The ordinance would
prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries but protects patients who use
or grow the drug under a doctor recommendation.

Gomez said he thought there may be a "silent majority" of Barstow
residents who would be against the prohibition. If residents are not
speaking up since it's a sensitive topic, he said, maybe the city
should create a ballot initiative to gauge public opinion. The mayor
said he wanted to research other towns that allow dispensaries.

The city had passed two moratoriums on dispensaries in 2010 in order
to research the issue more, and the year-long moratorium just ended.
The Planning Commission recommended last week that the Council hear
the ordinance after the Department of Justice released a memo June 29
on the issue. It said the federal government will not protect those
who facilitate the distribution of medical marijuana, regardless of state laws.

The California's Compassionate Use Act protects medical marijuana use
and cultivation with a physician's recommendation and proper
identification. City Planner Mike Massamini said this does not
protect distributors federally and that it is in the best interest of
the city to prohibit distribution based on the DOJ's memo. Councilman
Tim Saenz voted in favor of introducing the prohibition, saying that
the city doesn't want to be "dragged into a lawsuit."

Hailey said he didn't want to move the ordinance forward until the
Council received the research that was supposed to be done during the
moratoriums, as no supplemental information was provided at the
meeting except a copy of the DOJ memo and marijuana guidelines from
the California Attorney General's office from 2008. He also opposed
the idea of prohibiting the access to medical marijuana when the
state voted to decriminalize it.

"The people voted on this that it was okay," he said. "When does the
power of the vote count here?"

Six residents spoke against the ordinance and two residents supported
it. Robert Haroldson, in support of the prohibition, said he did not
personally approve of medical marijuana use or distribution.

"We have a tendency to make laws that destroy our society," he said.

Kasey Roberts spoke as a medical marijuana card holder. He explained
in an interview that he uses marijuana for nausea and pain from his
past career as a professional fighter. He can't keep down pills, he
said, so painkillers like Vicodin don't work. Roberts said to the
Council that it would be difficult to cultivate his own marijuana
with his one-year-old son around. The town would benefit financially
from a dispensary, he said.

There are currently no dispensaries in Barstow. Massamini said there
is one application to start a dispensary, which was filed before the
moratoriums. He said the applicant did not pull the application
during the moratorium and is waiting for the City's final decision.