Weedpipe
Active Member
At San Jose's first pass at crafting an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries, ideas were shot down and applauded in an emotionally charged meeting Monday night at City Hall.
There were the parents and teachers worried about the proximity of the dispensaries to schools and the patients and operators who dismissed the city's proposals as too prohibitive.
In the initial draft ordinance city officials proposed limiting the number of collectives in San Jose to 10, selected by lottery an idea jeered by some.
"It's laughable. A lottery is not democratic. It is not fair," said Lauren Vasquez, an attorney who advises cannabis patients and providers. "There is too much in this report that is wrong."
City Council may consider an urgency ordinance at its June 22 meeting, but several so-called stakeholders at Monday night's meeting believed that is too soon to develop comprehensive guidelines, particularly in the current format.
"You are inviting serious threats of litigation," Vasquez said, "If you pass the urgency ordinance, expect to get sued."
Several parents and teachers, however, urged city officials to restrict the proximity of the dispensaries to schools.
"How does San Jose intend to protect my children?" said Sue Campbell, who runs the Alphabet Soup Preschool near Purple People Medical, a medical marijuana dispensary. "Don't put these issues above the safety of our children."
Mondays hearing was the first of two community meetings to present the framework for the draft ordinance and gather public input.
City officials are proposing that collectives be limited to commercial districts and remain 1,000 feet from single- and two-family residential sites. They also are asking that schools, day care centers and other sensitive areas be taken into consideration when determining the location of the dispensaries.
Other proposals included a rigorous registration process in which applications would be approved by the San Jose police chief; a two-year sunset clause on the ordinance; requiring the cultivation and packaging of marijuana on the primary site of the collective; and the maintenance of detailed, transparent records of supplies and membership. Of the latter, however, San Jose Police Deputy Chief Don Anders stressed, "we're not trying to pry into the privacy of medical necessity of medical marijuana patients."
Under the initial proposals, the dispensaries would be required to provide an alarm system and security guards on the sites, and prohibit the sale of other items and services at the sites, such as homeopathic services and massages.
"We're looking at a process to obtain marijuana at minimal costs where a profit is not generated," said Anders, noting that the law allows only a member of a collective to obtain marijuana in exchange for in-kind services or compensation for actual costs.
Vasquez estimated there are 35,000 cannabis patients in Santa Clara County, with 15,000 to 20,000 of them in San Jose.
Darlene Welch, 50, of San Jose is one of them.
"I am grateful that I will have a safe place to go to get my marijuana," said Welch, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. "I would like to see dispensaries accommodate a need."
Roger Jackowitz, who has been trying to open a dispensary in San Jose, was hopeful that these regulations would clear the sour light cast on medical marijuana dispensaries by unscrupulous providers. "I applaud the regulation process."
News Forum: rollitup.org
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Author: Sandra Gonzales
Contact: San Jose Mercury News
Copyright: 2010 - San Jose Mercury News
Website: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15248854
There were the parents and teachers worried about the proximity of the dispensaries to schools and the patients and operators who dismissed the city's proposals as too prohibitive.
In the initial draft ordinance city officials proposed limiting the number of collectives in San Jose to 10, selected by lottery an idea jeered by some.
"It's laughable. A lottery is not democratic. It is not fair," said Lauren Vasquez, an attorney who advises cannabis patients and providers. "There is too much in this report that is wrong."
City Council may consider an urgency ordinance at its June 22 meeting, but several so-called stakeholders at Monday night's meeting believed that is too soon to develop comprehensive guidelines, particularly in the current format.
"You are inviting serious threats of litigation," Vasquez said, "If you pass the urgency ordinance, expect to get sued."
Several parents and teachers, however, urged city officials to restrict the proximity of the dispensaries to schools.
"How does San Jose intend to protect my children?" said Sue Campbell, who runs the Alphabet Soup Preschool near Purple People Medical, a medical marijuana dispensary. "Don't put these issues above the safety of our children."
Mondays hearing was the first of two community meetings to present the framework for the draft ordinance and gather public input.
City officials are proposing that collectives be limited to commercial districts and remain 1,000 feet from single- and two-family residential sites. They also are asking that schools, day care centers and other sensitive areas be taken into consideration when determining the location of the dispensaries.
Other proposals included a rigorous registration process in which applications would be approved by the San Jose police chief; a two-year sunset clause on the ordinance; requiring the cultivation and packaging of marijuana on the primary site of the collective; and the maintenance of detailed, transparent records of supplies and membership. Of the latter, however, San Jose Police Deputy Chief Don Anders stressed, "we're not trying to pry into the privacy of medical necessity of medical marijuana patients."
Under the initial proposals, the dispensaries would be required to provide an alarm system and security guards on the sites, and prohibit the sale of other items and services at the sites, such as homeopathic services and massages.
"We're looking at a process to obtain marijuana at minimal costs where a profit is not generated," said Anders, noting that the law allows only a member of a collective to obtain marijuana in exchange for in-kind services or compensation for actual costs.
Vasquez estimated there are 35,000 cannabis patients in Santa Clara County, with 15,000 to 20,000 of them in San Jose.
Darlene Welch, 50, of San Jose is one of them.
"I am grateful that I will have a safe place to go to get my marijuana," said Welch, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. "I would like to see dispensaries accommodate a need."
Roger Jackowitz, who has been trying to open a dispensary in San Jose, was hopeful that these regulations would clear the sour light cast on medical marijuana dispensaries by unscrupulous providers. "I applaud the regulation process."
News Forum: rollitup.org
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Author: Sandra Gonzales
Contact: San Jose Mercury News
Copyright: 2010 - San Jose Mercury News
Website: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15248854
