Fresno County supervisors rebuff medical cannabis panel

 Ordinances
Nov 162011
 

Medical marijuana users in Fresno County saw perhaps their last hope for easier access to the drug vanish on Tuesday. By a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors rejected recommendations by an advisory group to loosen the county’s strict marijuana regulations, Kurtis Alexander reports in the Fresno Bee. Citing a drug trade that sells indiscriminately and profits by doing so, supervisors underscored the need for the current law, which bans pot dispensaries and prohibits people from growing marijuana anywhere but in industrial areas. “What happens to all those people who benefit greatly from marijuana?” asked [...]

Humboldt supervisors take up medical marijuana ordinance

 Ordinances
Nov 142011
 

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors plans to introduce a draft medical marijuana ordinance on Tuesday with some recent changes, including the prohibition of onsite cultivation for dispensaries. The changes, outlined in a staff report, have caused some concern among dispensary owners, who think limiting onsite grows will also limit quality control on medicine and patient access, Donna Tam reports in the Eureka Times-Standard. In addition to the prohibition of onsite cultivation — the previous language allowed for marijuana in its “flowering stage” — the latest version of the ordinance also prohibits medical marijuana research [...]

Column: Nevada County’s economy runs on cannabis

 Ordinances
Oct 262011
 

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors is preparing an ordinance to restrict or ban marijuana cultivation in agricultural and residential neighborhoods. This ordinance could have unintended consequences on our quality of life and devastate the local economy. I suggest that we would be better served by taxing, limiting, and tightly regulating cannabis cultivation in Nevada County, Patricia Smith writes in a guest column for The Union. Cannabis is our state’s No. 1 cash crop, outpacing the second highest ag producer, dairy, two to one. State tax collectors estimate that $14 billion in marijuana sales remain [...]

Santa Cruz weighs fed impact on local cannabis laws

 Ordinances
Oct 132011
 

SANTA CRUZ — The county has yet to issue a permit under a new set of regulations aimed at medical marijuana operations, and already the law has been thrown into doubt. A state appeals court in Los Angeles last week handed down a decision that raises questions about any local effort to regulate the medical marijuana trade, saying federal drug laws invalidate any licensing of dispensaries and collectives — something many Bay Area governments have tentatively started to do. Local attorney Ben Rice, who represents several marijuana collectives, said he doesn’t expect any immediate impact [...]

Shasta board to consider dispensary ban, growing limits

 Ordinances
Oct 112011
 

In the first local discussion after recent federal crackdowns on medical cannabis in California, Shasta County planning commissioners will consider recommending county supervisors ban dispensaries and update regulations on cultivation in unincorporated parts of the county at Thursday’s meeting. The recommendation from the county Resource Management Department comes after a series of moratoria first enacted by county supervisors in early 2010 on medical marijuana collectives in the county. Establishing dispensaries has been illegal in unincorporated areas since, although the city of Redding currently has 16 collectives, Alayna Shulman reports in the Record Searchlight. Federal strikes [...]

Wheatland extends dispensary moratorium another year

 Ordinances
Sep 142011
 

Bolstered by the most recent court ruling in Orange County regarding medical marijuana, the Wheatland City Council voted Tuesday to extend a temporary ban on dispensaries. The year-long extension of two urgency interim ordinances will continue to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from being located within Wheatland city limits, Nancy Pasternack reports in the Appeal-Democrat. It would also allow the city staff and the council to further evaluate potential future permitting of dispensary operators, “and to continue to monitor and evaluate evolving legal developments concerning this issue,” according to the city’s public hearing notice posted Sept. [...]

Voters could decide fate of Palo Alto dispensaries

 Ordinances
Sep 132011
 

Marijuana dispensaries could sprout at up to three Palo Alto locations, if the City Council or voters were to approve an ordinance legalizing medical marijuana within city limits. A citizens group has gathered more than enough signatures to put the issue on the city ballot, City Clerk Donna Grider said. The success of the signature drive means the council must either adopt the proposed ordinance or bring it to the voters some time next year, Gennady Sheyner reports in the Palo Alto Weekly. Initiative supporters argue in the petition that legalizing and taxing marijuana dispensaries [...]

Petitions put Kern County dispensary ban on hold

 Ordinances
Sep 092011
 

Opponents of a Kern County ban on storefront medical marijuana collectives temporarily blocked the law from taking effect Friday morning. Activists with the Kern Citizens For Patient Rights turned in 26,335 signatures to Kathleen Krause, the clerk of the Board of Supervisors, at about 4 p.m. Thursday — an hour before they were due. They needed to turn in at least 17,350 signatures to stop the ordinance, James Burger reports in the Bakersfield Californian. By 5:15 p.m., elections workers had confirmed the number of signatures turned in and were preparing for the long task of [...]

Paradise council bans dispensaries, limits home cultivation

 Ordinances
Sep 082011
 

Growing medical marijuana just became a bit more difficult in the Town of Paradise, which was once made famous for its agricultural potential with fruit trees. The Paradise Town Council unanimously approved a medical marijuana ordinance Tuesday which outlaws co-ops and limits gardens to a 50-square-foot plot at patients’ homes. It also retains the town’s policy against dispensaries, and also outlaws outdoor growing within 600 feet of schools, Paul Wellersdick reports in the Paradise Post. The ordinance was met with some forceful opposition from marijuana users and advocates. Thomas Wahl began to shout during his [...]

Hesperia dispensaries still operating despite city ban

 Ordinances
Aug 252011
 

There are perhaps a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries and cooperatives in Hesperia, and there’s little that the city can do about it. “That’s an unofficial number, because none of them are legal,” said Dave Reno, the principal planner for the City of Hesperia. “We’re guessing there’s at least 11, if not more.” According to WeedMaps.com, there 13 dispensaries operating in the 92345 ZIP code, including a delivery service. And that’s in defiance of an ordinance banning marijuana dispensaries passed by the Hesperia City Council back in 2005, Beau Yarbrough reports in the Hesperia Star. “There [...]

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