cannabisnews.com: Martinez May Soon Allow Medical Marijuana Center





Martinez May Soon Allow Medical Marijuana Center
Posted by FoM on June 26, 2000 at 12:58:00 PT
By Yvonne Condes, Times Staff Writer
Source: ContraCostaTimes
After a four-year moratorium, the council will draw up the criteria for such dispensaries, a first for Contra Costa County. The Martinez City Council may have paved the way for Contra Costa County's first medical marijuana dispensary.The council introduced an ordinance last week to set regulations and criteria for a dispensary. It acted four years after the city put a moratorium on such dispensaries.
It's the first such ordinance in the county and likely will be adopted next month.Sara Barker and Bobby Judd, both of Martinez, approached the city about opening a dispensary in 1996 after Proposition 215 passed. The law, which allows for possession, cultivation and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, was so vague at that time that the city wasn't prepared to investigate its options, said Councilman Mark Ross."We were broke. We didn't have the money to research this," he said.The council stalled, asking for two extensions on the moratorium, to see how the issue panned out in other cities, said Councilman Rob Schroder. "There was so much upheaval in the area," he said. "It turned into social organizations where people were hanging out and smoking pot. That wasn't the intent of the law."There was no mechanism on how to dispense the drug.Martinez's ordinance sets up parameters that the law doesn't, he said.The dispensary can't be within 1,000 feet of a school or park or in a zoned residential area.The city will require that the medical marijuana be given directly to the patient or the designated caregiver at the dispensary and that employees, the owner or volunteers can't dole out the marijuana anywhere but the dispensary.That's one hurdle for Judd and Barker.They plan to deliver medical marijuana to patients so ill they can't leave their homes.Barker said she hopes the city amends that part of the ordinance.She has her own home health care business and often tends to people who are so sick a trip to the pharmacy is just too much."On bad days you can't go out. There's just too much pain," she said. Judd said they hope to have a storefront business where they will grow the marijuana. The state has about 27 medical marijuana dispensaries, with most of them in the Bay Area, said Wayne Justmann of San Francisco Patients Resource Center. The center, which has been open for one year, dispenses medical cannabis.Santa Cruz passed an ordinance this year allowing ill people to grow and use marijuana and is also home to the Compassion Flower Inn, a bed-and-breakfast inn for medical marijuana users.Despite the passage of Prop. 215, it's still a federal offense to grow, possess or sell marijuana in California.Oakland approved an ordinance in 1998 allowing the use of medical marijuana under certain guidelines.A federal appeals court allowed an Oakland Cannabis Club to continue operating last year after a federal judge ordered its closure.The hard part for Barker and Judd is yet to come, Ross said.Not only will they have to comply with the ordinance but they have to find a property owner willing to rent them space for the business."It's going to be tough legally and logistically," he said.District Attorney Gary Yancey said he was unaware of the ordinance or Barker and Judd's plans. Yancey said that in general he does not favor dispensaries."As long as they follow the law I suppose it's legal," he said.Several months ago someone called his office looking for help to set up a dispensary, Yancey said. "I said I wasn't interested," he said. "My opinion is that most of them are a front for dispensing marijuana for nonmedical purposes."Dave Cutaia, the Martinez police chief and spokesman, said he plans to meet with Judd and Barker soon to discuss their proposal.The ordinance was drafted to respond to the will of the people who voted for Prop. 215 and didn't realize they were voting for an undefined law, said Councilwoman Barbara Woodburn."I think what the people of Martinez are interested in is that we're careful and we're not going to make a drug opportunity for children or to people who want to do recreational doping, and that we're careful that the people who need the drug, get the drug," she said.Yvonne Condes covers Martinez and Benicia. Reach her at 925-977-8432 or ycondes cctimes.comPublished: Monday, June 26, 2000 © 2000 Contra Costa Newspapers Inc. Related Articles & Web Sites:OCBChttp://www.rxcbc.org/Marijuana.orghttp://www.marijuana.org/The Compassion Flower Innhttp://compassionflowerinn.com/Pictures From The Compassion Flower Innhttp://homepages.go.com/~marthag1/cfinn.htmMedical Use of Marijuana May Find Safe Haven http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6125.shtmlCouncil To Hear Proposal for Marijuana Clubs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6118.shtml California City is a Pioneer in Medical-Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5638.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives:http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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