California, Monterey Park

[palmspringsbum]

City bans outlets for medical marijuana

By Fred Ortega Staff Writer
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
August 17, 2006


MONTEREY PARK - Ailing residents hoping to walk to their neighborhood medical marijuana store for their pot won't be able to do so any time soon.

The Monterey Park City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to impose a moratorium on the establishment of so-called cannabis dispensaries within the city. The ban takes effect immediately and will last for 45days, with an option for the council to renew the moratorium for up to two years, said Development Services Director Adolfo Reta.

There are no medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Monterey Park, but the city has received inquiries on licensing and regulation of such establishments, City Manager Chris Jeffers said.

The city's Development Services and Police departments had requested the moratorium so that officials could examine the regulation - or perhaps the outright prohibition - of cannabis dispensaries in the city.

"Without an immediate moratorium being in place, the city could either receive an application for such a facility or a facility could open on its own, and the city would not have any regulations to enforce and protect the public health, safety and welfare," Reta said in his report to the council.

Among the potential negative effects of pot dispensaries that officials want to study, according to a staff report on the subject, are increased crime due to the large amounts of cash and marijuana typically held at such establishments, loitering and disturbing the peace.

Officials also want to examine how conflicting state and federal laws governing medical marijuana are reconciled, Police Chief James Moy said.

While the U.S. Controlled Substances Act classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with no accepted medical use, California Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420 allow medical use of marijuana and provides for the formation of pot cultivation "cooperatives" on a nonprofit basis.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in Raich v. Gonzalez that the federal government's interpretation that all marijuana is illegal supersedes any state law. But there are still legal challenges pending against the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Other local cities, such as El Monte, Pasadena, Lakewood and Pomona, have placed similar moratoriums on medical marijuana dispensaries.

West Hollywood, which initially allowed dispensaries to flourish in its city limits, passed a moratorium on new dispensaries until March 2007. The temporary ban was prompted by incidents of armed burglary at some of the city's eight existing pot stores and complaints from neighbors about increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic and noise, said Eric Matikosh of the West Hollywood City Clerk's office.

Rules for existing dispensaries in West Hollywood include a prohibition against keeping more than $200 in cash overnight on the premises, mandatory security guards, and a ban on on-site consumption of marijuana, alcohol, tobacco or food.

But such businesses are now allowed in unincorporated county areas such as Hacienda Heights, which already has one dispensary in operation, said David Sommers, spokesman for county Supervisor Don Knabe.

"There was a temporary moratorium that was put in place last year because the county did not have any rules or regulations of dispensaries," Sommers said, adding that a new ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors in May established such rules. "Any dispensary wishing to open within unincorporated parts of the county would have to operate in accordance with those rules, and dispensaries existing prior to the ordinance taking effect have to come into compliance within a year."

The rules set by the board include prohibitions against dispensaries being located within 1,000 feet of each other or from schools, nurseries, day-care centers, parks and libraries; mandatory security guards; and 24-hour surveillance and alarm systems.

fred.ortega@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2306

[Midnight toker]

Council extends medical pot ban

Staff requests time to consider options

By Molly R. Okeon Staff Writer
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
September 21, 2006


MONTEREY PARK - The City Council voted Wednesday night to extend a suspension on cannabis dispensaries.

The vote was 4-0, with Vice Mayor David T. Lau absent, in favor of an urgency ordinance to extend the city's 45-day moratorium on the approval of any permits, licenses or other applicable entitlements for cannabis dispensaries.

The moratorium was enacted Aug. 16, despite the lack of any medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Monterey Park.

City Manager Chris Jeffers has said the city received inquiries on licensing and regulation of this type of establishment.

Monterey Park is one of several area cities to put such a moratorium in place.

The Monrovia City Council called a special meeting Aug. 11 to enact a suspension on licenses for medical marijuana stores. El Monte's City Council extended their moratorium in late June. La Mirada passed a moratorium in April.

However, in July, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ruled the first medical marijuana dispensary in the San Gabriel Valley - the Hacienda Heights- based California Medical Caregivers Association - could continue to distribute marijuana to patients with doctors' notes.

At Wednesday night's meeting, Adolfo C. Reta, Monterey Park's director of development services, read from a report that said the city staff needed more time to research the issue before coming up with "clear, comprehensive and reasonable regulations."

The Monterey Park urgency ordinance will allow the city staff until Aug. 16, 2007, to study the issue, although Reta said the staff anticipates placing a proposed code amendment on the Planning Commission agenda in November.

In Reta's August staff report on the matter, he wrote that some potential negative impacts on the city as a result of pot dispensaries could be increased crime due to large amounts of cash and marijuana typically held at such establishments, loitering and disturbing the peace.

An advocacy group called "Americans for Safe Access" that supports medical marijuana dispensaries released a report earlier this monthsaying that cities such as Oakland, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz, which have enacted such ordinances, are seeing "positive results," according to a press release on the Web site www.safeaccessnow.org.

The report claims dispensaries "help revitalize neighborhoods, bring new customers to neighboring businesses and reduce crime in surrounding areas," the release notes.

molly.okeon@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4496

[palmspringsbum]

Cities debate pot clubs

By Christina L. Esparza Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
September 26, 2006

MONTEREY PARK - California voters decided in 1996 to give people suffering from HIV, cancer and glaucoma the legal right to smoke marijuana as a way to ease the side-effects of certain medicines and treat some ailments.

Ten years later, state and federal authorities are still at odds over whether medical marijuana can legally be prescribed. Stuck in the cross hairs are the cities and counties that are struggling to implement Proposition 215 without running afoul of the federal guidelines.

Monterey Park is the latest to execute a temporary ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, following Monrovia, La Mirada and El Monte. Pasadena recently adopted a permanent ban.

Chris Jeffers, Monterey Park's city manager, said officials felt compelled to take action after receiving phone calls from an unidentified group "asking what are the regulations for a cannabis club in your city."

A moratorium, he said, will give the city time to come up with a permanent solution.

"We're going to look at what some other cities are doing and we're also going to try to make sense of the legal dilemma that certainly appears with the federal law and state state law conflict," Jeffers said.

Of the roughly 150 dispensaries in California, only one is in the San Gabriel Valley: the California Medical Caregivers Association in Hacienda Heights.

The dispensary fought its own battle to set up shop. As an unincorporated county area, the Board of Supervisors has control over its laws.

In May 2005, the supervisors adopted a moratorium that stopped the club from dispensing medical marijuana, and later got a court order to prevent the club from selling marijuana to patients.

However, in July 2005, the dispensary won the right to sell marijuana when a judge refused a county request for an injunction, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the same week that federal authorities can prosecute growers and those who use marijuana even with a prescription.

"There had been many moratoriums around the state because every set of officials has had to consider how they want to proceed," said William Dolphin, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, the nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy group. "We hope they are moving toward an important community-based, compassionate solution for patients."

Dolphin estimated 71 cities in the state have established temporary bans on cannabis dispensaries.

While officials at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the dispensary in Hacienda Heights is not a major problem, the members of the Hacienda Heights Improvement Association say it hurts the neighborhood.

Michael J. Williams, president of the HHIA board, said the association would like to see the dispensary on Halliburton Road go away.

"This one slipped by the county. This was not on their radar screen," Williams said. "We feel it is not a positive thing in our community, and we feel it's brought a lot of problems."

Williams alleges the dispensary attracts an "element you don't want in your community," but acknowledges he has no statistical proof of such activity.

Monterey Park Councilman Mike Eng said the moratorium, which on Wednesday was extended from 45 days to at least 10 months, was needed to sift through complex legal questions and competing community concerns.

"It is a very sensitive issue because \ is a controlled substance," Eng said. "The local cities are the front-line test case for these situations.

He added: "It's really unfair to everyone because the law should be a policy that's clearly understood and clearly enforced."

christina.esparza@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2472