Supervisors Approve Marijuana Dispensaries

By Vanessa Turner
Source: Calaveras Enterprise

Kim Cue can legally open up her medical marijuana dispensary in San Andreas now that the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors introduced an ordinance allowing them in professional office zones. "I'm so nervous I can't talk," Cue said after the board's meeting Monday. Cue first applied to open a dispensary in September but hit some roadblocks when the county passed and later extended a ban on such facilities saying it needed to study the issue further.

County Counsel Jim Jones looked into the legal issues while Planning Department Deputy Director Bob Sellman went to work on drafting a zoning ordinance regulating where the dispensaries could be located.

California's Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996 allows patients to use medical marijuana with a physician's recommendation but federal law still considers marijuana an illegal substance.

A case on this very issue is before the U.S. Supreme Court and a decision is expected sometime in July.

Sheriff Dennis Downum is unhappy with the board's decision saying the situation puts law enforcement at odds.

"I guess we have to see whether the feds trump the state," Downum said.

He anticipates the federal government will be coming to Calaveras County to seize the dispensary building like it did at a Roseville dispensary last October.

Cue said she has two potential sites picked out in San Andreas. One is at Highway 49 and Mountain Ranch Road near the county Surveyor and 4-H office and the other is near Anchor Printing and Hemptation.

"Supervisor Lucy Thein had it exactly right," Downum said. "All San Andreas needs is a strip club to make it complete," since it already has a tattoo parlor, a piercing parlor and a head shop. "You don't see that happening in Murphys," he added. "People down there would probably raise hell."

"The residents and voters voted for the Compassionate Use Act," Supervisor Merita Callaway, who represents a portion of Murphys, said. "This tries to fill that commitment. … I don't know why we're even talking about it. The issue is so much bigger than little Calaveras County."

Supervisors Steve Wilensky and Tom Tryon sided with Callaway.

Wilensky said he lost his father-in-law to pancreatic cancer. "He died from starvation," he said. "He rejected this (medical marijuana) option."

The decision should be between a patient and a doctor, not government, Wilensky concluded.

Supervisor Victoria Erickson, who had a brother die of AIDS, said she couldn't find an appropriate location for the dispensaries in the county.

Supervisor Bill Claudino agreed and said Proposition 215 was not written well and dispensaries have a poor history of compliance.

Cue told supervisors she would implement numerous safety measures including hiring two security guards for in the store.

Now with the green light she will meet with Sellman and Downum to go over her security plans as called for in the new ordinance.

Formal passage of the ordinance will take place next week.

Beverly Holst of Arnold urged the board to allow the dispensary and said it's getting dangerous to get her marijuana.

"It forces me to become involved in illegal activities, which puts myself at risk," Holst said. "That's just not the kind of person I am."

Kelly Caverley of Angels Camp said it takes six hours round trip to fill her husband's prescription and three days for him to recuperate from the trip.

"I'm extremely excited," she said. "I get some of my life back."

John Wiles of Copper Cove added the dispensary would bring more tax dollars to the county.

Source: Calaveras Enterprise (CA)
Author: Vanessa Turner
Published: Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Calaveras Enterprise
Contact: editor@calaverasenterprise.com
Website: http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/

 

By Chris Nichols
Source: Union Democrat

Medical marijuana backers won a major victory yesterday when Calaveras County supervisors opened the door for cannabis dispensaries in the county. The board's 3-to-2 vote will make buying medical marijuana easier for many patients and their caretakers who now travel to cannabis clubs in the Bay Area, said San Andreas resident Kim Cue, who applied last fall to open the county's first cannabis club.

"I cannot put into words how excited I am," Cue said. "My bones are just shaking."

California voters approved the limited harvest and sale of medical marijuana in 1996 by passing Proposition 215, known as the Compassionate Use Act. But only a handful of counties - including San Francisco, Alameda, Sacramento and Amador - have approved the operation of cannabis dispensaries.

Cue and county officials estimate there are more than 200 medical marijuana patients in Calaveras County.

Under the county's first ever cannabis ordinance, Cue must still apply for a permit to open her club and will be subject to strict guidelines on where and how she operates the business.

Cue said she is considering two vacant storefronts in San Andreas, including 596 E. St. Charles Street near Mountain Ranch Road and 154 E. St. Charles Street next door to Anchor Prints.

She said she hopes to open a dispensary by April 1.

No dispensary can be located within 1,000 feet of a school or youth-related establishment, according to the county law. Background checks on owners and audits of financial records will be standard for all dispensaries.

Tuolumne County officials have discussed, but have not finalized a cannabis ordinance.

Calaveras County supervisors Merita Callaway, Tom Tryon and Steve Wilensky voted for the ordinance. Victoria Erickson and Bill Claudino voted against it.

"I think we owe it to what the voters of California voted for," Callaway said, speaking at yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

The three supervisors favoring the ordinance said any cannabis club will have to follow strict security measures to prevent marijuana from being sold to nonpatients and to minors.

Under California law, the sale of medical marijuana is limited to patients who have received a physician's recommendation.

Claudino said he was skeptical about the recommendations made by some doctors, adding that nonpatients and teenagers can easily obtain prescriptions for cannabis.

"I don't think it's in the best interest of the residents of Calaveras County," Claudino said.

Sheriff Dennis Downum said the dispensaries put law enforcement officials in a difficult position.

Under federal law, the sale or use of marijuana for any purpose remains illegal.

Downum said his department will regulate any dispensaries according to the county ordinance. But he said his department will also cooperate with federal authorities in shutting down any cannabis club, if requested.

Numerous clubs in other counties have been raided and shut down by federal authorities. Downum said he expects the same will happen in Calaveras County.

"It'll happen," Downum said after yesterday's meeting.

Public reaction to yesterday's ruling was mixed.

Several residents in San Andreas, where Cue hopes to open a dispensary, said they sympathize with patients who use medical marijuana, but oppose a dispensary opening in the county seat.

"It's not good for our town," said Shirley Holligan, pausing outside Anchor Prints at 156 E. Saint Charles St.

Holligan, who has lived in San Andreas for 35 years, said she would support medical marijuana sales if they were done through regulated pharmacies, but not at separate storefronts.

Reaction at nearby Hemptation, a smoking accessories shop, was decidedly different.

"I think it's great," said Tina Graham, who works at the shop. "(Medical marijuana) helps out a lot of people."

Graham added that many of Hemptation's customers are medical marijuana patients.

Seated on a bench across the street from the shop, 17-year-old Bret Cassel - like many county officials over the past few months - wrestled with whether a cannabis club was a good idea.

"There'd probably be more crime," said Cassel, who attends Mountain Oaks Home School. "On a positive note, it would be easier for people who need it to get it. It'd probably be easier for kids to get a hold of it, too. It has good and bad."

Source: Union Democrat, The (CA)
Author: Chris Nichols
Published: February 8, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Western Communications, Inc.
Website: http://uniondemocrat.com/
Contact: letters@uniondemocrat.com