For months we’ve been following the saga of the Sonora and Tuolumne County battles against medical marijuana dispensaries. The Union Democrat reported…
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Written by Chris Caskey,
The Union Democrat
October 05, 2011 03:11 pm
Tuolumne County is moving forward with a proposal to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to have county staff finalize an ordinance that would make it a misdemeanor to run a retail center that makes available, sells, transmits or gives marijuana to two or more patients, primary caregivers or members of the public.
However, supervisors and other county officials suggested the ordinance should allow for clinical medicinal use of the drug that is legal under California state law.
Supervisors heard the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting pot dispensaries that, according to County Counsel Gregory Oliver, is similar to a law passed by the Sonora City Council on Aug. 1.
Under the proposed ordinance, a dispensary would not include a “qualified patient or a person with an identification card delivering, administering or providing medical marijuana at the primary residence” of a legal medicinal user.
According to the ordinance, the definition also does not include licensed clinics, health facilities, residential care centers for the elderly or those with chronic illness, or a home health care agency.
However, the first draft of the law does lump collectives and cooperatives together with dispensaries.
During a lengthy discussion, supervisors and county officials juggled a desire to expand what they considered a widely abused system into the county without restricting local access for residents who use it responsibly and legally.
“We don’t have a balance here,” said Chairman John Gray. “We’re trying to do what’s right because I think we all can agree that it’s been abused the way it’s being run now. But in fixing that, are we causing additional harm?”
It is difficult to estimate how many medical marijuana users live in Tuolumne County, Public Health Officer Dr. Todd Stolp said. While the county has issued 28 medical marijuana identification cards, the cardholder is not required to receive the substance through a clinical setting. [Continue Reading…]
How much sense does it make to have people running around the county delivering marijuana in their vehicles, when they could keep a better eye on the dispensaries if they are stationary?
The reasons there are only 28 medical marijuana identification cards issued are many and varied. Some people are waiting for the local police policies to catch up with state law. After all, I doubt many seriously sick people would enjoy a night in jail waiting for their day in court. Further, it is still difficult to find local physicians willing to prescribe marijuana.
Many people don’t possess medical marijuana prescription cards but smoke to stay alive. Many have given up on the medical community being able to solve their health issues. The doctors solution is always to pump us full of narcotics, until the patient is unable to function on any level.
I have back issues that qualify me for a medical marijuana prescription card, but the back pain I can deal with, it’s the nausea and being unable to keep anything down that keeps me searching for alternatives. I’ve tried many things, ginger helps soothe my troubled tummy to some degree but smoking marijuana provides relief and allows me to keep up with my busy family.
Why can’t we all just get along and stop making the lives of those who struggle with medical issues harder still?
You say…
“There’s no question that (the laws) have been abused. A considerable number of patients and health care providers have been very lax and unprofessional,” he said.
But Stolp said he is concerned — if the ordinance passes as is — about those who actually use it legitimately.
“It would be more difficult” for those patients to gain access to cannabis, he said.
To that, I say…
First off, who cares? Those inside cabins for miles around get to “enjoy” the sounds of vociferant music, foul-mouthed drunks that spill out into the streets almost every evening. Compared to that, marijuana smokers are almost comatose.
The only reason I can see for the county Board of Supervisors to ban dispensaries must have something to do with all the federal dollars that pour into our county to eradicate marijuana being grown in the Stanislaus National Forest.
I know our county isn’t rich. We could use the tax dollars that would come from allowing these dispensaries. The new policy simply doesn’t make good sense from a fiscal standpoint or a social one. Besides, once marijuana is legalized, your ordinance won’t mean a blessed thing anyway and all you will have succeeded in doing is wasting a bunch of time on a non-issue.
Listen to what Ron Paul has to say on this topic…
Ron Paul on Marijuana Prohibition and its Scandalous Racist Roots!
http://youtu.be/Y58k1VC7yaw
