RivCo Supervisors Support Re-enforcing Restrictions on Pot

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

Despite calls for a different approach, Riverside County supervisors last week tentatively approved a measure re-enforcing the county’s prohibitions against mobile marijuana dispensaries, mainly to counter the effects of a new state law that permits the transportation of legally grown cannibis on roads throughout California.

Ordinance No. 928 received a unanimous vote following its initial public hearing, though several county residents spoke in opposition to the measure, which is slated to receive a second and final reading next Tuesday.

“This is a step backwards,” said William Gunn of Riverside. “Sometimes compromise is the way forward. We need a compromise in this situation.”

Gunn and other proponents of legalized marijuana noted that traveling cannabis dispensaries are an enormous benefit to individuals prescribed the drug but not in any condition to drive to a storefront location in Palm Springs or Rancho Mirage to buy it.

“This type of ban endangers the health and wellness of a lot of people,” Gunn’s wife, Bee, told the Board of Supervisors. “There are AIDS and cancer patients who can’t be here to stand up for themselves. I want you to show care and compassion for them.”

Mark Hennessey of Riverside said the board was like most of the doctors he’d met -- ignorant of the potential benefits of cannabis.

“There’s so much damage done to people because of these old ideas about marijuana,” Hennessey said.

The ordinance was drafted by the staff of county Chief Counsel Greg Priamos, who called it a precautionary step to bolster the county’s existing bans on all types of cannabis cultivation in the unincorporated communities, with the exception of small, legally sanctioned medicinal marijuana grows.

“I felt it prudent to clarify our existing ban so as not to lose local control,” Priamos said.

Ordinance 928 states that “no person shall deliver marijuana to any location within all unincorporated areas of Riverside County from a mobile marijuana dispensary.”

Violators could be subject to criminal charges resulting in fines and jail time.

The ordinance dovetails with Ordinance No. 925, ratified by the board in June. Under that law, registered medical marijuana patients are allowed to maintain grows of up to 24 plants in secure places on residential properties.

However, marijuana dispensaries of any size and description are strictly prohibited in unincorporated communities.

Restrictions are rooted in a 2013 state Supreme Court decision -- City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients Health & Wellness Center -- which recognized the authority of local jurisdictions to prohibit the operation of marijuana-based businesses.

On Oct. 9, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a legislative package into law, combining Assembly bills 243 and 266 with Senate bill 643, under which commercial pot grows will be permissible, along with the movement of the product on public roads, to meet the needs of medicinal marijuana recipients.

The new regulatory framework will take effect Jan. 1, though commercial pot growing operations will not be licensed by the state until Jan. 1, 2018.

According to county attorneys, in addition to the state, commercial cannabis activity will have to be permitted by local jurisdictions. Any restrictions, like those in Riverside County, cannot be overridden by state certification alone. Ordinance 928 is meant to remove any gray area that may arise under the regulatory regime, county officials emphasized.

Supervisor Kevin Jeffires, who was instrumental in creating the ordinance allowing for limited medicinal grows, backed implementing the latest ordinance, but pointed out that “voters may turn right around and legalize marijuana statewide,” making the present effort futile.

Supporters of recreational pot use are working to qualify several legalization initiatives for the November 2016 ballot.

“I want to keep kids away from this stuff and preserve local control,” Jeffries said. “But I drive by five illegal dispensaries on my way here. It’s changing out there, whether we like it or not.”

Under the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996, also known as Proposition 215, the possession and cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes is legal. The Medical Marijuana Program of 2003 provided a loose set of guidelines for registering medicinal marijuana recipients, followed by a 2008 advisory opinion from the California Attorney General’s Office.

Critics complained that the assorted, uncoordinated findings often left more questions than answers regarding medical marijuana regulation. SB 643 and its companion measures were intended to resolve matters.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration still views marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic prohibited under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

(Image via Shutterstock)