Contra Costa: County vote may snuff out medical pot dispensaries-Tues. 11 am

Pub Date: February 25, 2008
Pub Source Contra Costa Times

http://www.contracostatimes.com/health/ci_8357976

ccnletters [at] bayareanewsgroup.com.

County vote may snuff out medical pot dispensaries

Suppliers could be banned from opening in unincorporated areas
By Ryan Huff STAFF WRITER

Donuel Bruno has a list of ailments: inverted scoliosis, degenerative disk disease,
carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia. Simply walking across a room or sitting for a
half-hour caused him extreme pain until he discovered the remedy for his health
problems -- medical marijuana.

The 38-year-old Oakley resident gets his marijuana from a dispensary and uses a
vaporizer to breath in a mist of THC, the active chemical in the sap of a cannabis
plant.

"It's been the best thing I've ever done in my life," he said. "The other medicines
don't work."

Bruno and others who use medical marijuana in Contra Costa are about to face
barriers to access. County supervisors Tuesday are expected to pass an ordinance
that would ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas.

Such facilities have not been allowed to open since the county approved a temporary
moratorium in April 2006. That moratorium lapses April 10, the reason supervisors
are rushing to pass a permanent ordinance that bans land uses that violate state or
federal law.

Using marijuana -- even for medical purposes -- is illegal under federal law,
according to a 2005 Supreme Court ruling. This conflicts with a state law voters
passed in 1996 -- Proposition 215 -- that allows residents with certain medical
conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

The county would make one notable exception with the ordinance. M.E.D.'s Dispensary
in El Sobrante -- the only legal medical marijuana
business in the unincorporated county -- would be allowed to remain open since it
applied for a land-use permit before the 2006 moratorium.

Bruno buys his medical marijuana at the El Sobrante dispensary, but said he's
concerned there will never be a cannabis club closer to his Oakley home.

"To block dispensaries out of this county, it's a slap in the face to the people who
voted for the (1996) Compassionate Use Act," also known as Prop. 215, he said.

The man who runs M.E.D.'s Dispensary, Buzz Fowler, said patients with cancer and
other diseases don't have enough places close to home to acquire medical marijuana.

"The best thing for the patients is not to have to drive a 60- to 80-mile round trip
to get to me," he said. "How stupid do I sound to say, 'Go ahead and break up my
monopoly and build two new facilities?' The county wants to keep people from selling
it on the street, but they don't allow places for people to buy it legally."

There are other ways that seriously and terminally ill residents can use medical
marijuana legally, said Supervisor Mary Piepho of Discovery Bay.
For example, Prop. 215 allows those with a doctor's recommendation to
cultivate their own marijuana plants for medical purposes.

"The community impacts of a dispensary are intense," Piepho said, citing litter,
crime and smells from a dispensary. "And the cities still have the discretion to
decide how they want to regulate dispensaries."

Too often people with questionable medical ailments use dispensaries as a means to
buy marijuana and then sell it on the street, said District Attorney Robert Kochly.

He doesn't keep statistics on how often that happens, but anecdotally Kochly could
think of three incidents in the past two years where high school or college students
in Concord, El Cerrito and Moraga were selling marijuana they obtained at
dispensaries.

"In California, we basically have legitimized the drug trade," he said. "I don't
think there is any way to properly regulate dispensaries."

Still, that doesn't mean Contra Costa residents will be without medical marijuana,
he said. The El Sobrante dispensary remains open and there are others in Berkeley,
Oakland and San Francisco.

"In the Bay Area, other jurisdictions are always going to allow these businesses,"
Kochly said. "Our residents will have a place to go."
Ryan Huff covers Contra Costa County government. Reach him at 925-977-8471 or
rhuff [at] bayareanewsgroup.com.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS
A look at how some East Bay cities have opted to regulate medical marijuana
dispensaries:
Regulates medical marijuana dispensaries: Berkeley, Oakland
Bans uses that violate federal or state law: Hercules, Lafayette
Ban: Concord, Dublin, Livermore, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, San Pablo

IF YOU GO
Contra Costa supervisors are scheduled to discuss the ban on medical marijuana
dispensaries at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The meeting will take place at the supervisors'
chambers at 651 Pine St. in Martinez.


_________________________________________________________________