Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Alameda County officials were lambasted over the county’s medical marijuana ordinance and two pot dispensaries that operate nearby, during a community meeting in San Lorenzo last Wednesday.
“We do not want businesses like this in our neighborhoods,” said former Planning Commissioner Richard Hancocks, who lives in the Fairmont Terrace area above Foothill Boulevard.
“If these businesses are so important, why is there not one on Castro Valley Boulevard, in Castro Village, on Redwood or Lake Chabot Road?”
Hancocks said county supervisors were forcing the medical marijuana dispensaries on the “other side of the hill” from Castro Valley. “You are telling us we will get them whether we want them or not!”
Cherryland resident Susan Beck called the county’s purported interest in getting input from the public “a farce.”
Beck serves as secretary for the Cherryland Community Association and is working with San Lorenzo Homes Association offi cials on options and alternatives to the ordinance. The Cherryland area is home to one of the current dispensaries, Garden of Eden, at 21227 Foothill Blvd. The second, We Are Hemp, borders San Lorenzo, Ashland and Cherryland.
Supervisor Nate Miley asked Beck to gather community reaction to amendments that could be made to the four-year-old county ordinance.
Although most of those who spoke complained that the dispensaries bring blight, crime and unsavory activity to their areas, supporters of the dispensaries were present. “Nancy,” who did not give her last name, approached the podium and quietly asked the audience, “What about me scares you?”
Diagnosed with fi bromyalgia and in poor health, “Nancy” said she was dehydrated and unhealthy until she took a few puffs of marijuana she obtained from the street, felt thirsty shortly thereafter, and was back to work one week later.
“I’m a preschool teacher, a mom, a union- and girl-scoutleader. I’m also a marijuana user. I’m a mom, not a criminal,” she told the audience.
But San Lorenzo resident and County Planning Commissioner Kathie Ready was adamant in her opposition to the dispensaries: “Please don’t sell our soul to the devil on this.”
“I hear a lot of frustration on this and the community needs to get together and submit ideas to us that respects patients but does not abuse the community,” Supervisor Miley asserted following two and a half hours of public comment at the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Hall.
The Alameda County ordinance would permit three medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas. Possible amendments would bar them from residential areas, require that they be at least 3,000 feet apart, require disclosure on where the marijuana is cultivated, and call for all products to be packaged in childproof containers with labels that specify “marijuana may cause cancer” like those on cigarette packages.
County Attorney Donna Ziegler cautioned supervisors Alice Lai-Bitker, Gail Steele and Miley that federal law, which deems marijuana illegal, would trump any county attempts to distribute medical marijuana at a location like the Fairmont Hospital campus by jeopardizing federal assistance to the county .
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: castrovalleyforum.com
Author: Robert Souza
Copyright: 2009 EastBay Publishing Corporation
Contact: CastroValleyForum.com
Website: CastroValleyForum.com
“We do not want businesses like this in our neighborhoods,” said former Planning Commissioner Richard Hancocks, who lives in the Fairmont Terrace area above Foothill Boulevard.
“If these businesses are so important, why is there not one on Castro Valley Boulevard, in Castro Village, on Redwood or Lake Chabot Road?”
Hancocks said county supervisors were forcing the medical marijuana dispensaries on the “other side of the hill” from Castro Valley. “You are telling us we will get them whether we want them or not!”
Cherryland resident Susan Beck called the county’s purported interest in getting input from the public “a farce.”
Beck serves as secretary for the Cherryland Community Association and is working with San Lorenzo Homes Association offi cials on options and alternatives to the ordinance. The Cherryland area is home to one of the current dispensaries, Garden of Eden, at 21227 Foothill Blvd. The second, We Are Hemp, borders San Lorenzo, Ashland and Cherryland.
Supervisor Nate Miley asked Beck to gather community reaction to amendments that could be made to the four-year-old county ordinance.
Although most of those who spoke complained that the dispensaries bring blight, crime and unsavory activity to their areas, supporters of the dispensaries were present. “Nancy,” who did not give her last name, approached the podium and quietly asked the audience, “What about me scares you?”
Diagnosed with fi bromyalgia and in poor health, “Nancy” said she was dehydrated and unhealthy until she took a few puffs of marijuana she obtained from the street, felt thirsty shortly thereafter, and was back to work one week later.
“I’m a preschool teacher, a mom, a union- and girl-scoutleader. I’m also a marijuana user. I’m a mom, not a criminal,” she told the audience.
But San Lorenzo resident and County Planning Commissioner Kathie Ready was adamant in her opposition to the dispensaries: “Please don’t sell our soul to the devil on this.”
“I hear a lot of frustration on this and the community needs to get together and submit ideas to us that respects patients but does not abuse the community,” Supervisor Miley asserted following two and a half hours of public comment at the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association Hall.
The Alameda County ordinance would permit three medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas. Possible amendments would bar them from residential areas, require that they be at least 3,000 feet apart, require disclosure on where the marijuana is cultivated, and call for all products to be packaged in childproof containers with labels that specify “marijuana may cause cancer” like those on cigarette packages.
County Attorney Donna Ziegler cautioned supervisors Alice Lai-Bitker, Gail Steele and Miley that federal law, which deems marijuana illegal, would trump any county attempts to distribute medical marijuana at a location like the Fairmont Hospital campus by jeopardizing federal assistance to the county .
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: castrovalleyforum.com
Author: Robert Souza
Copyright: 2009 EastBay Publishing Corporation
Contact: CastroValleyForum.com
Website: CastroValleyForum.com
