Just saw this one, a lot of people are really bummed right now. SAN DIEGO - The City Council agreed Tuesday to form a task force that will look at ways to clarify the regulations governing the use of medical marijuana in San Diego. The City Council voted 6-1 to establish the 11-member committee, which will be comprised of medical marijuana patients, social service providers and dispensary operators, along with a legal professional, a physician, a community planner, a small business owner, someone from law enforcement and a land use professional. The panel will meet over the course of the next 12 months and was directed to make preliminary recommendations by the start of the year. The panel will be tasked with reviewing guidelines for medical marijuana patients and caregivers, the operation of dispensaries and growing cooperatives and the ground rules for police enforcement. It became legal in California for seriously ill patients under the supervision of a physician to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. "This is the law of the state of California, and we need some policies that we can follow here in the city of San Diego so there is no confusion," said Councilwoman Marti Emerald. The task force will also explore the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego. There are eight permitted medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and dozens more operating illegally. The exact number of dispensaries isn't known, but 30 permit applications are pending before the city. "We know there are more than eight operators in San Diego," Councilman Kevin Faulconer said. "That means there are more than eight operating illegally." The city's Development Services Department has suspended its approval of permits, pending a review of zoning laws. Councilman Carl DeMaio cast the lone vote against formation of the task force. He said he sympathizes with the sick who benefit from medical marijuana, but said there are abuses. "You don't perpetuate abuses by having a task force looking at a variety of nice ideas and options," DeMaio said. "You address abuses by enforcing the law." Dozens on both sides of the medical marijuana debate testified before the City Council, including Joshua Bilben, who urged the panel to act quickly to regulate the industry. "It's turned into the wild west out there when it comes to medical marijuana," he said. Others argued that the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries has become a problem. "Outlets are multiplying all over town," Bill Bradshaw told the council. Councilman Tony Young, agreed, saying he would be supportive of a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. "We have enough right now," Young said.
the reason this is happening is cause we dont have bill in office. He would have stopped this shit from happnening...with the power of his awesome saxaphone
San Diego county sheriffs are raiding multiple dispensaries in san diego county as i write this. Fucking pigs cant keep there noses out of other peoples business. Supposivly only 8 dispensaries are open legally in the county and the others are operating illegally. i dont know whats going on but i will get to the bottom of it.
My friends shop just got hit and i know of a few others that have as well. Stay away from these shops for the time being because my friend didnt have current papers and the pigs locked him down. Pass the word to San Diego people!
Having a dispensary without a permit is no different then having a bar without a liquor license. What should these people expect? They are lucky they lasted this long. If I opened a bar with out a liquor license I wouldn't last a week. It's one thing if the cops harass these people for minor paperwork errors but if they get busted for not having a permit, it's their own fault.
When a system designed to help people is abused the way MMJ is abused in California, it should come as no surprise to anyone when the people running the system take measures to cut down abuse. Now I'm not saying they are taking the right measures, but come on, look how things were ran in California, they were practically handing out doctor recommendations in the streets, it was only a matter of time.
I was thinking the same thing. Don't be mad at the cops for shutting these guys down, they're running it illegally. What does this say about the medical marijuana community?
the thing is its not just dispensaries getting taken down. I remember a few months ago there were 8 headshops in north county that got shut down in a week, all were totally legit glass shops with the nicest owners, had nothing representing mj, basically they were just raided with no warning, with all merchandise seized with no explanation. I can only imagine what dispensaries are going to go through in the next year. Yeah, not having current paperwork is asking for it. The guys running their businesses illegally have it coming, but for the businesses that are legit and up to date on everything, well thats total bs in my opinion. Nothing pisses me off more than the San Diego Sherrifs department. The funny thing is someone gets gunned down in front of my fathers house in el cajon and 3 squad cars show up, while on the other hand they have 15 or so cops seizing all this shit in these shops. blah thats the end of my rant for now heh.
I'd like the bit of misinformation that they are only raiding dispensaries without permits. They are raiding legitimate dispensaries that have been in place for some time. They're raiding pretty much everybody, as we speak.
I fucking hate cops. Now the one thing that makes california awesome is being taken down? I thought Obama was supposed to stop these raids not increase them. Also weeds never gonna be legalized in fact I feel that its going the opposite way. If it becomes criminalized again in cali I am moving to holland and never coming back to america
This is not the same as shutting down unlicensed bars. Counter to state law, the city DOES NOT GIVE LICENSES for medical marijuana dispensaries. If the city decided not to give licenses for bars, the bar owners would try to find a way against the city's illegal action. Most dispensaries HAVE BUSINESS LICENSES. The business licenses refer to them as holistic health centers, herbal suppliment stores, plant nurseries etc. This is police harrassment of law abiding citizens plain and simple!
Shit like this is why I left San Diego 10 years ago. They won't allow MMJ, but they have liquor stores and bars on every block. Take away their alcohol and you'll hear about it.
I don't know why the city is so anti-MMJ. It's bullshit. The public is greatly in favor of medical marijuana. At some recent city council meetings regarding MMJ, there would be about 50 or 60 people in favor of medical marijuana and maybe 5 or less against. Such bullshit.
Here it is again... Law enforcement officers raided an unknown number of medical marijuana dispensaries around the San Diego region Wednesday, authorities said. The District Attorney's Office, which is heading the multi-agency operation, declined to give further details, saying more information would be released Thursday. Word of the raids began spreading about noon Wednesday with reports of armed officers from San Diego police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and other agencies bursting into dispensaries or collectives. Raids were reported at a handful of dispensaries, including Pacific Beach Collective on Turquoise Street, Green Kross Collective on Mission Boulevard and Hillcrest Compassion Care on University Boulevard. Late Wednesday, a red sign in front of Pacific Beach Collective read: “This location has been involved in the trafficking of illegal narcotics. Criminal prosecution is pending.†It was unclear how many people were arrested or what charges they faced. Calls to numerous dispensaries were unanswered Wednesday. Thomas Carpentier, a 50-year-old patient from La Jolla who struggles with arthritis, tried to buy medicinal pot from two dispensaries Wednesday but found them closed. “These guys were trying to run a straight shop all the time,†Carpentier said while standing in front of Pacific Beach Collective. “They did everything right.†The raids shook the medical marijuana community and prompted angry responses. Don Duncan, California director for Americans for Safe Access, said in a statement: “Not only does the federal government have no place helping to enforce state and local medical marijuana laws, local officials must regulate medical marijuana and enforce those laws with civil actions, not with the barrel of a gun.†Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, state law permits its use, as long as a doctor recommends it. The coordinated raids came a day after the San Diego City Council voted to create a citizen task force to study how to better regulate the dispensaries. As requests have popped up around the county to open such facilities, several cities have responded by banning dispensaries or enacting a moratorium. Only nine dispensaries are officially licensed by the city of San Diego, but Pacific Beach resident Scott Chipman of SavePB.org says 60 are operating. He has been working with the city to close the dispensaries, saying they are for-profit, which is against state regulations. “These are in every single person's neighborhood,†Chipman said Wednesday. “They are all over the city.†Dr. Bob Blake, director of Medical Marijuana of San Diego, suspects many of the dispensaries were lulled into a false sense of security when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a San Diego County case and put the issue back in the hands of the state. “I think it's a tremendous step backward for medical marijuana patients of San Diego County,†Blake said.
the scary thing is now all the patient records of those dispensaries are in the hands of the DEA. That is the one and only reason I never got a mmj card because I knew this was coming to SD. Seemed like it worked its way down south from Oakland. I know that pacific beach dispensary was totally legit and the nicest people, I have a friend that goes there, and to see that the DEA hung that sign up in their window is a complete disgrace and enrages the hell out of me. I'm extremely suprised that they went for the nicer areas, and not the south bay locations. Maybe they figured they'd get more resistance from more people than they could handle. pussies IMO
And wasn't the last word from Attorney General Eric Holder that federal raids were going to be stopped? I call bullshit on Holder.