Pacific Grove postpones action on dispensaries; school board opposed

The City Council had set a May 5 deadline for the report, but City Manager Thomas Frutchey on Wednesday asked to give his staff until July 7 to recommend whether the city should permit one or more medical marijuana facilities within city limits and to outline related issues, including costs, benefits, security requirements and possible locations.

City Attorney David Laredo served a medical marijuana dispensary called the Apothecary Inc. with a legal order March 3 prohibiting transfers or sale of marijuana on the property at 115 Central Ave. The order was filed on grounds that the city declared a moratorium on issuing permits for such dispensaries, the Monterey County Herald reports.

Daniel Maniscalco, one of the people named in the order, told the council then that no marijuana transactions had taken place on the property. On Wednesday, he presented members with a 16-page set of rules used in other cities to regulate medical marijuana.

Jessey Bray, vice president and secretary of the Pacific Grove Unified School District board, presented the council with a resolution adopted 4-0 at the board’s April 14 meeting opposing the opening of marijuana dispensaries in the city.

The resolution and an accompanying letter signed by all five board members contends that the presence of such clinics increased crime in other cities, and that their presence would undermine the district’s efforts to prevent the spread of drug and alcohol use among students.

The resolution notes that the city has already seen a reduction in the police force and elimination of its narcotics detectives and school resource officer.

“We believe that the presence of such a medical marijuana dispensary would increase the presence of marijuana in our schools and the illegal use of marijuana by our students,” the resolution states. “We urge the Pacific Grove City Council to reject marijuana dispensaries and extend the moratorium prohibiting their creation.”