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Counties recognize need for medical marijuana and attempt to regulate dispensaries
By Hempology | October 1, 2007
Contra Costa Times, CA
30 Sep 2007
Harrison Sheppard
REGULATING MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Most cities and counties with ordinances regulating medical marijuana dispensaries have passed them within the past three years.
Most include provisions restricting the facilities to more than 1,000 feet from a school, park or other dispensary, requiring security measures and restricting operating hours to the daytime.
Twenty-seven cities and eight counties in California have ordinances allowing and regulating medical-marijuana facilities, according to Americans for Safe Access, a pro-medical-marijuana group. These include Alameda County and the cities of Albany, Berkeley, Hayward, Martinez, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz.
Fifty-seven cities and three counties have bans, including Stanislaus County and the cities of Antioch, Concord, Dublin, El Cerrito, Fairfield, Fremont, Livermore, Oakley, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, San Pablo, San Rafael, South San Francisco and Union City.
Seventy-nine cities and seven counties have temporary moratoriums, including Contra Costa County and the cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Manteca and Marin.
According to a listing compiled by the pro-legalization group NORML, there are at least 49 dispensaries or delivery services in San Francisco and the East Bay, one in Marin County and 11 in the South Bay/San Jose area.
Oakland passed an ordinance in February 2004 restricting the number of dispensaries in the city to four. They have to be more than 1,000 feet from a school, library, park or other dispensary, and can operate only from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Alameda County passed an ordinance in 2005 that limits to three the number of dispensaries that can operate in unincorporated areas. They have to be more than 1,000 feet from a school, library, park, recreation center, drug recovery facility or other dispensary, and they must be located in a commercial or industrial zone.
Santa Clara County passed an ordinance in 2006 that says its intent is to provide regulation for the convenient, affordable and safe distribution of medicinal marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana. It restricts the facilities to commercial and neighborhood-commercial zones, and it limits them to more than 1,000 feet from schools, places of worship and other dispensaries. The law also allows on-site cultivation of medicinal marijuana, but it does not allow on-site consumption.
San Jose passed an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries earlier than most major cities, approving in 1998 a series of regulations that include a ban on marijuana consumption on site, limiting hours to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and prohibiting dispensaries from delivering medical marijuana to patients.
Santa Cruz has an ordinance that prohibits dispensaries from within 600 feet of a school, public park, drug treatment facility or other dispensary, or within any high-crime area. It prohibits the growing and ingesting of marijuana on the premises. It restricts them to operating from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays or Mondays through Saturdays in commercial areas.
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