cannabisnews.com: Sebastopol May Get Its Own Medical Pot Dispensary





Sebastopol May Get Its Own Medical Pot Dispensary
Posted by CN Staff on March 29, 2004 at 22:07:09 PT
By Dawn Pillsbury, Sonoma West Staff Writer
Source: Sonoma West 
Sebastopol area medical marijuana users may have a local dispensary if a Berkeley advocate is successful in setting up shop on Gravenstein Highway.James Blair, founder of the Cannabis Buyers Cooperative of Berkeley, said he would like to open a medical marijuana dispensary on the 500 block of Gravenstein Highway South.
"I talked with James and it sounds like he has a good plan for the dispensary," said Sebastopol resident Doc Knapp, a spokesman for the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana. "He wants to have it be educational with various legal trainings and different ways to use marijuana. It seems like he has the best interests of the patients at heart."Blair has run the Berkeley co-op for seven years, he said, and thinks Sebastopol is a good place for such a dispensary, at least until November."The federal government came down hard on clubs in Sonoma County," Blair explained. "They're probably not going to arrest any more medical marijuana patients there. But I expect they'll come down hard after the election."Knapp said there is enough demand - Sonoma County has several thousand medical marijuana patients."There is a clear need," he said. "There are pharmacies in every town - two in Sebastopol. We need for dispensaries to be local. Not everyone can get out to Guerneville. We need one in Sebastopol, one in Santa Rosa and one in Sonoma to serve patients locally."While California law allows for the medical use of marijuana since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, there is not a consistent state standard for its use."It's frustrating that Prop. 215 was so poorly written that it resulted in a real mish-mash of ordinances and rules throughout the state," said Sebastopol Police Chief Jeff Weaver.He said he will provide information to the planning commission and city council about the city's current marijuana problem - number of incidents, arrests, citations, calls to schools, etc."So we all know the baseline of what happened in Sebastopol in terms of marijuana incidents in 2003," he said.Weaver said he will also review Blair's Berkeley operation and work with him to design a secure facility if the dispensary is approved. Two River medical marijuana dispensaries have been robbed in the past two years."If this business is allowed to operate, I would want to make certain it was secured in such a way that is not the victim of robberies and burglaries," he said.Blair said he agrees with Weaver."I have run the facility in Berkeley for seven years and it's never been robbed," he said. "The key is how you operate and who you operate with. We'll have an eye toward security at all times and make it a difficult place to rob."I'll work closely with the police department and make sure security is tight," he said. "I've begun discussion with the police chief and we pretty much concur on all the issues."Still in negotiations with the landlord for the dispensary site, Blair said he would apply for his use permit and business license as soon as he gets a lease.Blair, a user of medical marijuana for nine years to treat paralysis from a broken neck, said he is looking forward to working with Sonoma County medical marijuana users."I hope it will become a patient collective, so they own it outright," he said. "I want it to be an asset to the community."Though the city cannot tax the marijuana because it is a medicine, Blair said he has an idea that could help Sebastopol close its budget gap."I'd prefer (the marijuana) be grown by the city of Sebastopol," he said. "They grow it, we distribute it, they make a profit and close their budget gap. It would be completely reasonable for the city to gain a couple hundred thousand at least."City attorney Larry McLaughlin said that is not feasible under current law, but when Senate Bill 420 is implemented in Sonoma County next year, it could work.SB 420, signed by Gov. Gray Davis shortly before he left office, establishes guidelines for statewide medical marijuana user identification cards. Knapp said SAMM is in negotiations with the Sonoma County District Attorney's office and the Health Department to rewrite the county guidelines under SB 420. He said there will be a discussion of the possible new guidelines at SAMM's next meeting, 6:30 to 8 p.m. on April 13 at the Sebastopol Library.Though dispensaries are legal under California law, the federal government does not recognize their legitimacy. Sebastopol grower Robert Schmidt was arrested in a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raid on Sept. 12, 2002 at his home and 1,300-plant medical marijuana ranch near Ragle Park. The Aiko Compassion Center in Santa Rosa was closed after a DEA raid in May of 2002."We consider the federal government to be the applicant's problem," said McLaughlin. "We can't assure he will not attract attention of federal authorities. If they, for example, choose to raid, there's no way for the city to anticipate it. It's the applicant's worry."Sebastopol Planning Director Kenyon Webster said Blair will have to go through the normal planning process, including use permit issues, neighborhood compatibility and parking."There are security issues with this kind of establishment, just like we'd look at an alcohol establishment," he said, though a medical marijuana dispensary is something entirely new to Sebastopol."This is something we don't have, never have had," said Webster. "The zoning ordinance does not specifically address it." He said the final decision on a use permit would be up to the Planning Commission or City Council.Source: Sonoma West Times & News (CA)Author: Dawn Pillsbury, Sonoma West Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Sonoma West PublishersContact: news sonomawest.comWebsite: http://www.sonomawest.com/Related Article & Web Site:SAMMhttp://www.samm.net/Sonoma May Get Medical Pot Club http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18480.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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