BOARD OKS TIGHT LIMITS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The days are numbered for Fresno County's medical marijuana
dispensaries, which under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the Board
of Supervisors must shut down by March.

The new law, approved by a 4-1 vote of the board, seeks to curtail
what has become a flourishing and some would say problematic trade of
medicinal pot across the county. Busy dispensaries have sprung up in
Tarpey Village, Fig Garden, Friant and Malaga, and neighbors are
complaining of petty crime, traffic and noise.

The ordinance also takes cultivation of medical marijuana off the
table, banning all marijuana gardens -- including at homes -- with the
exception of grows in some industrial parts of the county. Advocates
of the drug, though, say the restrictions in the industrial areas will
make cultivation next to impossible.

In a chamber packed with marijuana supporters Tuesday afternoon,
county supervisors left the door open to future changes to the
regulation that could allow personal cultivation of the drug. Still,
as written, the ordinance takes effect with the prohibitions in place
next month.

"We have to start someplace," said Supervisor Debbie Poochigian. "I
think someone should be able to grow their own in their backyard
whether it's two plants or four plants ... This does not address that,
I know. But I think we have to take a first step."

Attorneys representing the medical marijuana community said Tuesday
they can't count on changes to the ordinance and pledged to proceed
with a lawsuit. They claim the county is legally bound to allow the
drug to be grown and dispensed to the sick.

"They'll drive us out and think we won't sue," said Brenda Linder, who
represents four of the roughly 15 dispensaries currently in operation.
"We cannot take away patients' rights that are given under state law."

Owners of dispensaries, who have six months to close after the law
kicks in, also are planning to collect signatures for a ballot measure
to repeal the ordinance.

Users of medical pot, meanwhile, are trying to figure out their next
step.

"There really is a need for some people," said Constance Ott, who uses
marijuana to treat arthritis and pain from knee and shoulder
replacements. "We'd have to go out of the area to get medication, and
the cost ... My husband and I are living on a fixed income with a
limited pension."

Ott said she and her husband grow about 50 plants at her Miramonte
home at nominal expense.

"We have been able to eliminate all of the other medications that are
prescribed to us by doctors," she said.

Her husband Dan also praised the benefits of their
crop.

"When I rodeoed, I wore hemp shirts that lasted me almost 10 years.
There is a definite use for this product in all respects," he said.

The perks of marijuana, however, haven't come without problems, as a
handful attested to Tuesday.

"For us, it's a safety issue. It's not a medical issue," said Louise
Yenovkian, who said that her Fig Garden neighborhood has seen a
threefold jump in crime since a marijuana dispensary set up shop near
her home.

Members of a PTA in Centerville similarly said a dispensary recently
opening 800 feet from a school was inappropriate. A Malaga man said he
was tired of seeing dispensaries move into his community.

The only vote against the new regulations Tuesday came from Supervisor
Susan Anderson, who said the law, as crafted, would not work.

"It's going to push growing marijuana into the national forests. It
will push selling to the drug cartels," she said. "I know that's not
the intent or desire of this ordinance, but that's the reality."

Anderson also worried that enforcement of the law, which is left
primarily to county planners, will be insufficient, and marijuana
dispensaries will be allowed to stay open with little punishment.

Dispensaries that choose not to shut down, under the ordinance, get a
courtesy notice, then a notice of violation, then an administrative
citation. It takes those three steps before the matter is referred to
the legal system -- but even then county officials need approval by
the Board of Supervisors before they seek a court order to close.

Under the ordinance, the parts of the county where marijuana can be
cultivated legally include Malaga, along Highway 99, west Fresno
County near Tranquillity and San Joaquin and outside Coalinga.

The restrictions for marijuana gardens are tight, limiting cultivation
to indoors, requiring security and putting caps on the size of the
harvest.

The Sheriff's Office has vowed to strictly enforce the cultivation
regulations.

The cities of Selma and Fowler, though, have criticized the ordinance
for allowing cultivation too close to their borders. Both cities
prohibit growing and distributing medical marijuana within city limits.

As part of the board's pledge to revisit the ordinance, supervisors
said Tuesday they will add amendments requiring the county to
coordinate with city leaders on licensing of nearby growing operations.

A working group that is expected to form this month will review the
ordinance and look at ways to better accommodate distribution of
marijuana and personal cultivation, supervisors said.