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In a move that some observers consider illegal, the City of Dixon, California has banned medical marijuana dispensaries. Reversing a 2004 ordinance that permitted dispensaries (on paper, at least), the City Council voted 3-2 in favor of the ban.
“You people should be in Washington [D.C lobbying for changes to cannabis laws on the federal level],” carped Council Member Kay Fulfs Cayler, before introducing the motion on August 26, 2009.
Cayler’s motion was seconded by Mayor Jack Batchelor, who blurted out some very strange references, shortly before the vote. “It just depends on how much you want to prostitute yourself,” the Mayor said to Council Member Dane Besneatte, who spoke passionately in favor of dispensaries.
“I don’t think it’s so much of a whore situation,” Council Member Michael Ceremello countered.
“It just seems a little hypocritical to me, that’s all,” the Mayor said, cryptically. It was unclear what hypocricy the Mayor was referring to.
Besneatte, a truck driving attorney who sits on the opposite side of the hall from the Mayor, implored his colleagues to follow the law. Dixon’s Chief of Police, Jon Cox, had done good work in updating Dixon’s dispensary ordinance, Besneatte argued. California’s Prop. 215, the state’s 1996 medical marijuana act was the law of the land, the citizens had spoken with their votes. Recalling a family trip to San Francisco, Besneatte described strolling down Haight Street, where his daughter owns a business. The Council Member saw many small storefront dispensaries on his trip to The City, but testified that he saw no loitering, or crime. They operated just like any other business, and Dixon should allow them. It’s the American way, Besneatte declared.
Council Member Michael Ceremello felt that Dixon’s current dispensary ordinance, and its proposed changes were, “…a little overreaching.” He had a problem with limiting the amount of dispensaries to only two at a time.
“I’m more likely not to approve any ordinance,” commented the soft-spoken Vice Mayor Rick Fuller. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with someone from Sacramento running a dispensary in Dixon,” Fuller cautioned.
Dixon’s Mayor revealed that his wife is a cancer survivor. He said that she might have considered using medical marijuana, but it was, “not available.” Building on the Vice Mayor’s geographical separatism, Mayor Batchelor said to the assembled crowd, “You don’t live here. You don’t have to interact with the people that live here. I do…we have to have a moratorium…” but that idea was already dead in the water. The Council had failed to get the required 4 voted for an urgency moratorium a month earlier.
The sharp-tongued Mayor’s optometrist testified his opinion that there were better medicines available for glaucoma than cannabis. He stated that he could not speak to pot’s efficacy with regard to cancer, AIDS, or anything not covered by his specialty.
One of the out of towners speaking at the hearing was Narcotics Police Officer John Arabia. The veteran cop, a dead ringer for Mr. Clean, used fear and ridicule to underscore his view that Dixon should stop allowing dispensaries. “If we get the wrong people in, bad things could happen,” warned Arabia. He worried out loud about beatings, robberies, vandalism and loitering. Boasting that he is a, “court qualified expert on marijuana,” the officer chided many pot patients for not being sick enough. Patients were getting cannabis recommendations for back and knee problems, and that was abuse of the system, in Arabia’s view. Laughing, he pointed out that some people have marijuana recommendations for asthma. Presumably the career cop has not been informed that cannabis is a bronchiodilator. Marijuana opens the blocked throats of asthma sufferers, and can literally save an asthmatic’s life. If the City of Dixon allows medical marijuana dispensaries to operate, “The quality of life here will suffer,” insisted the officer. However, “To what extent, I’d just be speculating,” Officer Arabia advised.
A regular figure in Solano County medical marijuana prosecutions, Arabia is on the front lines of determining whether criminal marijuana cases are medical or not. In the case of alleged pot grower John Bearden, Arabia has testified that he believes that the confiscated marijuana was for sale. He also testified to the amount of cannabis in that arrest: less than a half gram of bud, and less than a quarter gram of hash. That amounts to about one cigarette.
After the Mayor seconded Council Member Cayler’s ban, a roll call vote was taken. Voting in favor of the ban, vice Mayor Rick Fuller broke the tie.
Ironically, even though the City of Dixon has officially allowed dispensaries since 2004, no dispensaries have publicly opened in the tiny town. While the old ordinance outlined a detailed process for dispensaries, the very tight zoning restrictions effectively zoned them out of existence.
Will Dixon’s ban stand? A number of California cities that have banned medical marijuana dispensaries, including Fresno, Concord, Susanville and Pasadena have been sued by Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana rights group. ASA contends that the bans violate state law, and should be overturned by state courts. Perhaps a court case in Anaheim, expected to be heard in late 2009, will provide guidance on the issue of whether or not California cities can legally ban medical marijuana dispensaries. Anaheim has issued a ban, but a superior court judge has blocked its implementation. The City of Anaheim has appealed the ruling, and the case is expected to be heard in December.
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