CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS MORATORIUM OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Proposal Allows City Staff To Develop Policy

Today the Davis City Council will consider a moratorium on medical
marijuana dispensaries in order to define how the drug is distributed locally.

The moratorium proposal was prompted by an inquiry to the city's planning
and building department about three weeks ago, Planning Technician Lynanne
Mehlhaff said.

Neither Planning nor the Davis Police Department could find city policies
regarding the establishment of such dispensaries, according to DPD Captain
Steven Pierce.

Without specific city regulations, medical marijuana dispensaries can start
in any area that permits retail and medical clinics, such as the core
commercial zones downtown. The moratorium would require that any dispensary
apply for a conditional permit from the city to open.

According to the proposal, if "dispensaries are allowed to proceed without
appropriate review.the dispensaries could have potential adverse secondary
effects on neighborhoods and the city that present a clear and immediate
danger to the public health, safety and welfare."

The document defines a dispensary as any facility or location where medical
marijuana is legally made available to two or more persons.

Mehlhaff noted that the city commonly places conditions on the location,
hours of operation, and parking availability of businesses. The city could
also require that the business owners or employees run background checks,
Pierce noted.

Or the council could effectively ban dispensaries from the city, Pierce
said, as the city of Rocklin did in July.

Several Sacramento-area cities have set regulations on dispensaries since
January, when one opened in Roseville.

The city had not addressed the possibility of dispensaries when one opened
in its historic downtown, Roseville Police Chief Joel Neves said.

Since then, the dispensary has required regular attention from the city's
police. He noted responding to calls ranging "from burglar alarm
activations, to suspicious people loitering near the premises, to street
drug vendors trying to solicit vendors and sell marijuana at a reduced price."

Roseville has since developed ordinances for new dispensaries, as have the
cities of Citrus Heights and Elk Grove, with Rancho Cordova's ordinance in
process.

Yolo County does not have an officially licensed dispensary, said Nathan
Sands, founding director of Compassion Coalition, a political group that
supports patients' rights to medical marijuana.

The group was founded in Sacramento in March, and has been attending area
city council meetings to support dispensaries, but is not against the
regulation of such businesses.

"I feel that is appropriate for cities to zone dispensaries," Sands said.
"It helps patients when you get someone who's serious and willing to work
with the city and so on," he explained.

Yolo does have informal growers co-ops for medical marijuana, said Sands.

The legality of any dispensary has been uncertain in California since 1996
when the state passed Proposition 215. The proposition contradicts federal
law against the growth, use and distribution of marijuana in the cases of
patients for whom doctors recommend the drug for medical treatment.

In October, California Assembly Bill 420 gave cities jurisdiction to
regulate dispensaries as they would other businesses, though they are still
illegal by federal law.

In regard to the city's decision against dispensaries that serve four or
more patients, Rocklin City Manager Carlos Urrutia said, "We felt that the
demand on police services would be greater than we wanted to have, and
consequently [a dispensary] was not a land use we wanted in Rocklin."

Pierce wrote the proposed moratorium, which will go before the Davis City
Council at today's meeting. He stressed that the proposal was not to ban
medical marijuana dispensaries. The moratorium, if passed, would last until
Sept. 17 unless extended.

"We're not looking at this point to do anything but give ourselves some
time to look at the whole problem and not feel rushed to make a decision,
and to be able to make a decision that is in the best interest of the
entire community," he said.