EAST BAY CITIES CONSIDER MEDICAL POT BAN

Two East Bay cities on Tuesday will look into joining the growing Bay
Area trend of snuffing out potential medical marijuana
dispensaries.

The Pleasanton City Council is scheduled to review a possible urgency
ordinance to impose a 45-day moratorium on marijuana dispensaries
within the city. At the council meeting July 19, the subject of such a
moratorium was continued because of the length of the meeting. This
time around, the ban should be the first item heard during the public
hearing part of the meeting.

Also Tuesday night, the Dublin City Council will hear a similar item
on establishing its own moratorium.

Pleasanton already has received at least one inquiry regarding
establishing a dispensary in the city, as have the Tri-Valley cities
of Danville and Livermore.

Tri-Valley police chiefs are urging all their cities to adopt such
ordinances.

Pleasanton officials believe a moratorium may be necessary because
many other local cities, and even Alameda County, have approved
similar ordinances. According to a staff report, that could leave
cities without moratoriums more likely to eventually house medical
marijuana dispensaries.

According to the staff report prepared for the Pleasanton council, a
moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries also is essential because
such providers pose a "current and immediate threat to public health,
safety and welfare."

The battle over medical marijuana dispensaries recently popped back
into the headlines as the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that
federal authorities can enforce U.S. marijuana laws despite
California's law allowing for personal medical use. In California,
Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, allows a person to
use marijuana for medical purposes if approved by a doctor.

Other local Bay Area governing bodies already have adopted such
interim regulation ordinances. Berkeley adopted a zoning ordinance to
limit the number of dispensaries to the three already existing there.
Even the city and county of San Francisco approved a moratorium this
year.

If a 45-day moratorium is approved, it can be extended twice. The
first extension would give the city an additional 10 months and 15
days to study the issue, while the second extension grants an
additional year. A four-fifths vote is needed to approve such a
moratorium and any extensions.