Palm Springs law could allow some medical marijuana dispensaries

Palm Springs law could allow some medical marijuana dispensaries

Medical marijuana task force to review draft law on Tuesday

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun

Palm Springs could become the first city in the Coachella Valley to permit
medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in the city ” providing they
comply with state guidelines released in August and are located in areas
zoned for industrial use.

City officials have drafted an ordinance that would ban for-profit
dispensaries in the city, but allow dispensaries organized as non-profit
collectives or cooperatives, as defined in guidelines recently issued by
state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Under the proposed law dispensaries also would be limited to the city's
industrial zones and would have to be at least 500 feet from any school,
park, playground or residential area.

The city's medical marijuana task force will meet to discuss the proposed
law at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon
Way. The City Council is also expected to review, but not vote on the law at
its meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're trying to figure out a way to reasonably allow activities within the
state's Compassionate Use Act, while still recognizing we have federal law
that suggest this is illegal drug activity," said City Attorney Doug
Holland. "The idea here is to try to provide balance."

California law allows medical use of marijuana for people with a doctor's
letter of recommendation. Federal law bans all use or cultivation.

Holland said the law would also go the city's Planning Commission before
coming back to the council for a final vote.

Stacy Hochanadel, the owner of the CannaHelp dispensary located in one of
the city's industrial zones, said his business would pass muster under the
ordinance, should it become law.

"We're 524 feet from the nearest residential project, property line to
property line," Hochanadel said today.

The other two dispensaries in Palm Springs — Community Caregivers and the
Collective Apothecary of Palm Springs, or C.A.P.S. — are both located on
Palm Canyon Drive in commercial zones.

Representatives for the dispensaries were not immediately available for
comment.

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