A Comprimise in the Workings?

BOARD TO VOTE ON MARIJUANA PLAN
by Emily Hagedorn, Californian, staff writer, (Source:Bakersfield Californian)
10 Jul 2006

California
-------
After the issue of medical marijuana dispensary regulations came up a few weeks ago, county officials and cannabis proponents met to find a compromise.

It was a nice try, but not good enough, says the Bakersfield chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

A revised ordinance is now up for vote at the Kern County Board of Supervisors' meeting Tuesday morning.

The original measure, which was brought up June 13, would have enabled the Sheriff's Department to know each person involved in every medical marijuana transaction, limited hours of operation and required disclosure of any firearms on the dispensary premises, among other things. Since then, those actions have been scaled back.

The Sheriff's Department can only see the names of patients and caregivers when they get a warrant or court order. Dispensaries can be open until 8 p.m. The requirement for disclosure of firearms was deleted.

"We worked it out," said deputy county counsel John Irby. "We want to have a system under which the sheriff can inspect the premises to ensure they are complying with state medical marijuana law."

But NORML, along with some local dispensaries, doesn't want the sheriff involved at all.

"I don't have a problem with there being an ordinance," said Ed Sulla, vice president of Bakersfield NORML. "But we think it should be the health department to handle it."

Jim McGowen, owner of the American Caregivers Collective, a dispensary on Gillmore Avenue, worries this oversight by the Sheriff's Department will allow for an abuse of power.

McGowen's customers are worried they will be outed as marijuana users and lose their jobs, he said.

"I see this as a cover-up the police are using to get what they want," McGowen said. "It's probably going to put these dispensaries out of business, put these patients back on the street ( to find marijuana )."

The sheriff is involved because that department manages regulatory business licenses in Kern County, Irby said. Other businesses that the sheriff regulates include pawn shops, massage parlors and bingo halls.

Other measures in the proposed medical marijuana dispensary ordinance include:

* Grounds for suspension and revocation of the license.

* Requiring documentation of patient physician recommendations and financial records.

* Restrictions on minors using medical marijuana.

* Limit on the number of dispensaries allowed in the county.

The supervisors also will vote on requiring the dispensaries to pay a $166 yearly fee.