Medical pot issue returns

Dave Brooks

Medical marijuana is back on the table at the Huntington Beach City

Council, following a procedural error by city staff.

The City Council enacted a 45-day ban on issuing permits to

medical marijuana dispensaries at its Feb. 7 meeting, but City Atty.

Jennifer McGrath said that vote didn’t count because the ordinance

didn’t receive enough affirmative votes.

“State law requires a fourth-fifths vote on legislation adopting a

moratorium,” she said.

The Feb. 7 vote received only five affirmative votes for the seven

person council -- Debbie Cook voted against the ban and mayor Jill

Hardy was absent.

Hardy, who was away in Washington D.C. chaperoning her Model

United Nations students from Huntington Beach High School and

lobbying for several federal grants, now finds herself the swing vote

on the issue when it returns to council on Feb 22.

“My initial reaction is ‘Why aren’t we banning all Class 1

narcotics that are given out by pharmacies?” she said, adding that

she plans to discuss the issue with Police Chief Ken Small and attend

the public hearing before making her decision.

Small said he is asking for the moratorium after conferring with

police officials from other California cities that have medical

marijuana facilities. He said the temporary ban is not an attack on

the merits of medical marijuana, but a chance for city staff to enter

a dialogue on where a medical marijuana facility should be located.

“I think it will give the city time to look at the zoning,” he

said. “A facility might need to be a certain distance from a park or

school.”

As for the larger legal issues surrounding medical marijuana,

Small said “from our perspective, that issue was resolved by the

voters of California. We don’t have a dog in this fight.”

In 1996, voters approved the first ordinance in the country to

legalize the use of marijuana to treat ailments like glaucoma or

AIDS. The law immediately came under attack from the U.S. Department

of Justice, which argued that the ordinance violated federal

prohibitions on marijuana. Eleven other states have laws allowing the

medical use of marijuana.

A case on the legality of medical marijuana is pending before the

United States Supreme Court. In that case, Raich v. Ashcroft, the

justices are being asked to decide whether Congress’ ability to

regulate interstate commerce includes the right to restrict patients

from cultivating small plots of medical marijuana for personal use.

So far only one group, Compassionate Caregivers, has petitioned

the city for more information about building a medical marijuana

dispensary in Huntington Beach. An employee at Compassionate

Caregiver’s West Hollywood clinic said the group did not grant

interviews with the media. According to a report issued by the

California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of

Marijuana Laws, Compassionate Caregivers operate about a half-dozen

dispensaries throughout the state in locations such as Mendocino

County, Oakland and Bakersfield.

Orange County has at least two registered medical marijuana

dispensaries, including an Anaheim-based dispensary known as 420

Primary Caregivers.

Office manager Ken Nichols said the dispensary gets along well

with its neighbors.

“We haven’t had any complaints. We’re very conscious about our

appearance and security,” he said, adding that the facility employs

armed guards and doesn’t allow smoking on the premises.

Small noted other California cities have had problems with medical

marijuana dispensaries. Oakland police have told him that their

facilities attract criminals who try to illegally purchase marijuana,

or rob patients who have it, Small wrote in a report to City Council,

while patrons in Roseville often congregate at a local park near a

facility to use the substance.

“These facilities have created adverse impacts on communities,

which have permitted them,” Small wrote.

Roseville Police Public Information Officer Dee Dee Gunther said

the city’s medical marijuana dispensary was recently raided and

closed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, but was never a major

generator of crime.

“We got a couple of calls for service, but often it was the owner

calling to complain. One time someone was handing out business cards

in front of the dispensary telling people that he could sell

marijuana cheaper,” she said. “Other than that, I wouldn’t say it

brought a huge wave of crime with it, nor did a huge wave of crime

occur after it left.”