>
> By Tanya Sierra
> Union-Tribune Staff Writer
>
> 7:38 p.m. July 21, 2009
>
> CHULA VISTA – City officials have temporarily banned medical marijuana
> dispensaries to give them time to come up with a policy to regulate the
> businesses or to decide that they are not allowed at all.
>
> The City Council voted 4-0 to enact a 45-day moratorium Tuesday night,
> saying it needed more information before deciding whether to allow medical
> marijuana cooperatives to operate.
>
> Requests to open medical marijuana collectives are cropping up all over the
> county, and most cities don't know how to deal with the nontraditional
> businesses.
>
> “They have to operate in a manner and a form that do not create public
> safety issues,†Councilman Steve Castaneda said. “The moratorium isn't to
> deny, it's how we in better ways understand how we safeguard the community
> as a whole.â€
>
> State voters approved medicinal marijuana in 1996, but some counties have
> fought the state law because medical marijuana use is still illegal under
> federal law. In May, the county lost its battle when the California Supreme
> Court refused to hear its lawsuit. The lawsuit argued the state could not
> force it to issue medical marijuana ID cards because the drug is illegal
> under federal law.
>
> Two Chula Vista residents – Dustin Vogel and Daniel Green – applied last
> month for a business license to operate CV Collective, which would dispense
> pot to medical marijuana patients.
>
> “There's nothing down here, and it's not reasonable for someone who is
> seriously debilitated to drive up to San Diego to get medical marijuana,â€
> said Vogel, 25.
>
> When he addressed the council Tuesday night, Vogel assured them his business
> would follow any guidelines.
>
> “This is a legitimate business venture,†he said.
>