BOARD BANS POT CLINICS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS

STOCKTON - The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday
passed an ordinance banning shop-front medical marijuana dispensaries
in unincorporated San Joaquin County.

The board had already voted to prohibit the dispensaries in March,
directing staff to draft the ordinance that would change county code.

County government oversees unincorporated land on the outskirts
outside and pockets inside the county's seven incorporated cities.

Different cities have different rules to regulate medical marijuana
dispensaries, and permitting them in unincorporated places could
undermine rules in individual cities, Board Chairman Larry Ruhstaller
said.

"We felt this was going to be a city-by-city issue," he said. "We're
not saying that medical-marijuana dispensaries should not exist. ...
We're saying in unincorporated areas of the county, this is not permitted."

It ends a process that began in early 2010, when the county passed an
emergency ordinance prompted by the appearance of dispensaries in
Stockton and inquiries from those interested in opening them in
unincorporated county.

Despite the ban, there are at least two dispensaries operating in
unincorporated county, supervisors said on Tuesday.