California, Pomona

[palmspringsbum]

Moratorium issued on marijuana locations

www.dailybulletin.com
Monica Rodriguez



POMONA - Members of the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance Monday night that sets a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries.

The 45-day moratorium will give city personnel time to do research on such facilities, the report said.

Council members voted 6-to-1 in favor of the ordinance, but added a condition that an existing facility in the 200 block of San Lorenzo Street remain open while city staff members conduct their research.

Personnel in the city's planning division have had people asking questions regarding the establishment of such facilities, according to a city staff report.

At this time the city doesn't have regulations governing medical marijuana dispensaries. The current facility opened in December.

The moratorium would expire on May 18 and can be extended for 10 months and 15 days if needed, the report said.

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Medical marijuana dispensary in limbo

'Low key' facility's future in question after Pomona sets moratorium

By Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer



POMONA - From the moment he opened on Christmas Day, David Touhey wanted to keep his medical marijuana dispensary on San Lorenzo Street low-key.

But the facility's existence became public last week when the City Council was asked to implement a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries in Pomona.

Touhey spoke in opposition of the moratorium, arguing that such facilities are permitted under state law. He also noted that he was operating one.

Council members voted 6-1 for the moratorium but allowed Touhey's operation to remain open.

"I've kept it low-key," Touhey said Wednesday. "I don't want to frighten the neighbors."

He added his operation fits in well in the industrial zone where it's located.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, making it legal for people with a prescription from their doctor to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Yet federal law doesn't permit such a use.

"Some cities have outright denied (the use) on the premise it's not an approved business under federal law," Pomona City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman said.

Cities have taken a position that they each have a right to regulate such operations, but supporters of medical marijuana use disagree, Alvarez-Glasman said.

While adopting the moratorium, a council majority agreed that out of fairness to Touhey, he should be allowed to continue operating until legal issues are sorted out.

After the vote, some council members noted that the late Mayor Eddie Cortez died of cancer, as did Councilman Marco Robles' first wife and Councilwoman Paula Lantz's daughter. Robles and Lantz both noted the brutal effects of chemotherapy treatments on cancer patients, which marijuana advocates said can be alleviated by the drug.

Mayor Norma Torres was the lone dissenting vote.

Touhey's dispensary is located in an eastern Pomona industrial zone, south of the railroad tracks and near a bus yard, automotive businesses and a storefront church.

His door reads "Farm Assist Ministries." He calls the establishment a "cannabis ministry and caregiver collective" and said it serves eastern Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire.

"Out toward San Bernardino County and Riverside County they have no access at all" to medical marijuana, Touhey said. "People have to drive hours to get their medicine."

The marijuana "helps them have a better quality of life in their last days," he said.

Touhey, who said he is an ordained Universal Life minister, works with 40 people, most of whom are cancer patients.

Only patients with a note from their doctor and a referral can use his services, Touhey said.

He doesn't grow cannabis on-site, and he dispenses a maximum of two ounces at a time. Touhey could distribute up to eight ounces, but limiting the amount ensures the cannabis doesn't fall into the wrong hands, he said.

In January, he made the first of three attempts to secure a business license at Pomona City Hall. Twice he was told that the city doesn't issue licenses for dispensaries. The third time, he spoke with city planners, who told him Pomona was not zoned for dispensaries.

As Touhey sees it, that's no impediment to his dispensary because "it's legal except where it's regulated out."

Just because business licenses aren't issued for a dispensary like his "doesn't mean I can't operate," Touhey said, "or at least that's my take on it."

Matthew Bassi, the city's planning manager, confirmed that Touhey was denied a zoning clearance for the dispensary.

City officials are currently looking into Touhey's operation.

On one hand he's calling himself a ministry, and on another a dispensary, Bassi said.

"We just don't know enough about his business to know what he is," Bassi said.

Police Chief James Lewis said he wasn't aware of Touhey's dispensary or any problems at the site.

Touhey tried to establish his operation in various places including La Puente, City of Industry, Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. In most instances local government "adopted ordinances that make my place not fit in," he said.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would regulate dispensaries in unincorporated areas of the county.

Monica Rodriguez can be reached by e-mail at m_rodriguez@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9336.

[Midnight toker]

Article Launched: 06/18/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT

Pomona takes up medical marijuana
The Pomona Daily Bulletin



POMONA - Two resolutions, one granting an exemption to a medical marijuana dispensary and the other denying an exemption, will go before the City Council on Monday evening.

Council members will hold a public hearing to discuss whether to support or oppose an exemption to Farm Assist Caregivers, located at 268 San Lorenzo St.

The existence of Farm Assist Caregivers came to light April 3 when council members adopted an interim urgency ordinance, which introduced a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

At the time, Farm Assist Caregivers representatives said they were operating in the city since December 2005 and urged the council to oppose the ban.

The council imposed the 45-day ban and opted to allow the dispensary to continue operating, while questions about its opening were clarified.

On May 15, council members extended the ban for 10 months and 15 days in order to provide planning department personnel with time to research the subject of medical marijuana dispensaries.

If the council decides to grant an exemption to Farm Assist Caregivers, a series of operating conditions similar to those in Los Angeles County will be set for the dispensary to follow, said Matthew Bassi, city planning manager.


-- Monica Rodriguez, (909) 483-9336

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Article Launched: 06/22/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT

Pomona will revisit the marijuana issue

The Daily Bulletin


POMONA - The question of how to address the presence of a medical marijuana dispensary will return before the City Council in the middle of September.

Until then, city staff will collect information on how nearby cities handle such operations.

The matter involving Farm Assist Caregivers, which opened in an industrial area along the 200 block of San Lorenzo Street in December, is expected to return to the council on September 18.

This week, City Council members listened to seven people speak in favor of the council granting an exemption that would allow the dispensary to operate. One person spoke in opposition.

Council members had the option of denying or granting an exemption to operate the dispensary. The council in May extended a moratorium from 45 days to 10 months and 15 days, banning the opening of such operations to provide planning staff enough time to research guidelines and other regulations for such services.

If the council grants an exemption for the dispensary, it would also set a series of conditions under which it must operate, a city staff report said.

– Monica Rodriguez, (909) 483-9336