Rialto Medical Marijuana News

Rialto City Council seeks medical marijuana ban

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/29/2009 08:01:00 PM PDT
Updated: 09/29/2009 08:01:01 PM PDT

RIALTO - Medical marijuana facilities may be banned from the city.

The City Council in a 4-0 vote last week introduced an amendment to the
municipal code prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries and
cooperatives.

"All those provisions are all just primarily saying that we're
establishing the sections of the code that would prohibit medical
marijuana dispensaries in commercial and industrial areas throughout the
city," said Michael Story, development services director, in a report to
the council.

California voters in 1996 approved Prop. 215, permitting access to
marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit San Bernardino
County filed jointly with San Diego County that sought to overturn the
so-called Compassionate Use Act on grounds that the federal law banning
marijuana possession and use under any circumstance overrides the state
law.

However, on the same day the council introduced the amendment, a state
appellate court ruling upheld a lower court's injunction against a group
that sought to operate a dispensary in Claremont.

The injunction precludes the group from operating a dispensary in
Claremont as long as the city's moratorium against the establishment of
dispensaries remains in effect, and until the city grants them a
business license and a tax certificate to operate.

The decision essentially opens the door for local officials to determine
the fate of medical marijuana dispensaries, said Jeffrey V. Dunn, an
attorney with Best, Best and Krieger who handled Claremont's case.

"The argument had been that (the state law) had somehow required cities
and counties to have dispensaries, and what the Claremont case said was
cities and counties can decide whether to have medical marijuana
facilities," Dunn said.

There are no medical marijuana facilities in Rialto, and the code
doesn't address the issue, officials said.

But since 2007, the city has received several requests from groups
seeking to operate here, according to a staff report.

The city in August 2007 imposed a moratorium on medical marijuana
facilities that was extended two months later and ran out on Sept. 19.
But in July, the Planning Commission reviewed the proposed code
amendment and recommended its approval.

Councilman Ed Palmer said Tuesday he supports the amendment, in part,
because he believes dispensaries are not regulated enough.

"That's not something that I really want in the city," Palmer said.
"There's too much mis-uses of it. It's not what it was meant to be."

Councilman Ed Scott was not present for the vote.

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