COUNTY CANNABIS CONFUSION

On August 10, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors says it will
explore new ways to crack down on dispensaries while county staff
works on a final ordinance.

Last Wednesday, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted to
not implement an urgency ordinance regulating medical-cannabis
dispensaries and cultivation. This was wise: The county's first
attempt at crafting medical-marijuana laws should be an unhurried and
inclusive process.

A few supervisors did, however, express serious concerns about the
ubiquity of dispensaries in the region. Supervisor Jimmie Yee even
held up a copy of SN&R's weekly medical-cannabis guide, The 420, and
motioned for an all-out ban on collectives, arguing that the clubs
are more about kick-starting the "party," his words, than providing
legitimate medicine to patients in need.

This is unreasonable. But it is true that since President Barack
Obama's election in 2008, a new breed of medical-pot collectives have
popped up throughout the area, some of which appear less and less
engaged in compassionate medical use. Unfortunately, the supervisors
have allowed for this boom by dragging their feet and watching from
the sidelines as dozens of dispensaries opened shop.

Other California cities and counties, meanwhile, have taken smart,
timely action to regard and regulate this growing industry.
Sacramento County has done nothing-and now they're in a pickle.

The supervisors should take a cue from their city of Sacramento
contemporaries a few blocks down the road and 1) enact another
moratorium, and 2) invite dispensary owners and cultivators to
register with the county in good faith.

Police action and code-enforcement crackdown will only foster more
uncertainty and new litigation-and of course will harm the thousands
of legitimately ill patients who lawfully use medical pot to assuage
their symptoms.