City Council To Discuss Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Ordinance Again

The City Council is poised Monday to take another stab at an ordinance that would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego.

The council is scheduled to discuss the components of a draft law that would make dispensaries legal within the city again.

A pair of ordinances that determined where dispensaries would be located and how they would be operated were enacted in 2011, but medical marijuana advocates considered the laws too strict and collected enough petition signatures to get them rescinded.

Not having the laws made marijuana dispensaries illegal, and the city got around 100 of them closed down. The U.S. Attorney's Office has also been targeting marijuana outlets.

Returning dispensaries to legal status has been a major priority of Mayor Bob Filner since he took office in December.

In January, the mayor, City Council and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith agreed to continue enforcing zoning violations by medical marijuana dispensaries while an ordinance is developed.

In a memo this week, Goldsmith said the Neighborhood Code Compliance Department has not referred any cases to his office since the agreement was reached. During that time, at least 20 dispensaries have opened illegally, he said.

According to city documents, the goals of a new law would be:

• to allow patients with a proper physician's recommendation access to compassionate use of medical marijuana throughout San Diego;
• to allow limited competition in permissible zones so that patients can find the strain that alleviates their symptoms and improves the quality of their lives;
• to prevent dispensaries from encroaching on residential neighborhoods;
• to promote legal and responsible business practices among dispensary operators;
• to protect children from unprescribed use; and
• to protect public safety.

The documents said city staff is looking for direction on permit fees and whether to prohibit marijuana vending machines, among other things.

In a separate memo, Goldsmith said the City Council should consider postponing decisions on the topic since the state Supreme Court is scheduled to rule soon on a case that involves the power of municipalities to regulate dispensaries.

—City News Service