Marijuana dispensaries under scrutiny

City officials want to clamp down on groups that dispense marijuana for medical purposes in Laguna Beach.

The City Council — with no public comment and little council comment — unanimously approved an ordinance Aug. 1 that would prohibit the city from issuing business licenses to businesses that are “illegal or unlawful under city, state or federal law.”

No mention was made of the fact that medical marijuana was the origin of the ordinance.

Nor were the proposed ordinances brought to the city’s HIV Advisory Committee for advance comment, Dr. Korey Jorgensen, committee chairman and HIV specialist, said.

“It’s most unfortunate and odd,” Jorgensen said. “I would have thought [Police] Chief Sellers would have brought it up at one of our meetings.”

Marijuana is frequently prescribed — often in pill form — as a remedy for HIV symptoms, Jorgensen said.

“The city has not very aggressively enforced laws for those possessing small amounts of marijuana, and I would be disappointed if that were to change,” Jorgensen said.

The ordinance must return to the council for a second reading to be formally approved.

The Planning Commission will consider on Wednesday a companion ordinance that would prohibit zoning entitlements or use permits for such businesses.

The ordinances are designed to target medical marijuana dispensaries and were created at the request of the Laguna Beach Police Dept., Cpt. Danell Adams said.

Adams said that complaints about the marijuana dispensaries led to the idea of a city ordinance to control them.

“The problem has been more complaint-based than violation-based,” Adams said. “So, in the process of looking into the matter, it was the zoning department that felt an ordinance would be appropriate in the event enforcement is necessary.”

The proposed ordinances would not take the issue of illegal drug use out of the hands of police, she added.

“While we still enforce possession/use/growth/sales of marijuana, we have to examine each incident on its merit,” Adams said.

“As with any prescribed drug, there is legal use and then there is criminal abuse. Certainly, our experience with the medical marijuana has revealed abuses under the auspices of medical need, hence the need for careful scrutiny.”

Adams declined to discuss specific instances or dispensaries, citing the privacy of patients of the clinics.

Voters in California approved a law in 1996 allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for some patients, but the law conflicts with federal law that criminalizes the use of marijuana for any reason.

Numerous medical marijuana groups — sometimes called “cannabis clubs” — have sprung up around the state.

Adams said that her department is concerned that marijuana prescriptions are being issued improperly in Laguna Beach.

“I think the great issue falls to the legality of the prescriptions. How is the diagnosis being completed and for what kind of ailment?,” she said.

“Someone could say they have glaucoma or some form of cancer that is best treated by marijuana, but no formal diagnosis has been completed. When medical personnel violate this tenet, then we have a problem — and people using marijuana illegally.”

In Laguna Beach, a group called Medical Marijuana of Orange County operates out of a downtown retail center. The facility provides prescriptions for marijuana under the auspices of Dr. Alfonso Jimenez, an osteopath.

Those seeking prescriptions for marijuana can apply online for a $25 fee. If a doctor’s visit is required, the fee is $75, according to the Web site. With a prescription, the patient can then obtain marijuana from a dispensary.

Jimenez declined to comment for this story, and referred a reporter to attorney Bruce Margolin.

Margolin is the executive director of LA Norml, a marijuana rights group, and practices from West Hollywood. He says he has never heard of an approach to medical marijuana such as the one taken by Laguna Beach.

Margolin claimed the proposed ordinances are unconstitutional and says the laws would not accomplish what they purportedly seek to.

“The city can’t enforce federal laws,” he said. “They want to put people back into the black market, with no taxes. They will feed a black market by excluding people from going to cannabis clubs. It’s irrational. It’s a disservice to the public not to have a safe haven” for marijuana use.

The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.

The council is expected to consider the business license ordinance for final approval in September.

QUESTION

Should the city crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries? Write us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail us at [email protected] or fax us at (949) 494-8979. Please give your name and tell us your home address and phone number for verification purposes only.