Napa will become the first city in Napa County to allow medical marijuana dispensaries for patients with authorizations from medical doctors.
After seven months of hearings dominated by passionate testimonials about the medicinal benefits of pot, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to make medical pot available to residents.
Councilmembers asserted that well-regulated dispensaries can provide a service to people with medical needs without becoming a blight on the city.
It could be as much as a year before the city issues a permit for its first dispensary. In coming months, the city will hold a competition to select a non-profit group to apply for a permit.
The use permit process alone could take six months, with public hearings in front of the Planning Commission and council on the suitability of a site.
Mayor Jill Techel said a majority of Napans support medical marijuana. When voters statewide approved an initiative legalizing cannabis for medical uses in 1996, some 60 percent of local residents voted 'yes,' she said.
"We feel voters have voted and said they want a safe place for care," Techel said. Napa's ordinance is loaded with security requirements to reduce the chances that a clinic will create problems, she said.
Councilman Pete Mott said Napa had written a model ordinance better than Sebastopol's, which is often cited as the gold standard for assuring a well-run clinic.
The city will allow only one clinic the first year, with the possibility of one more the second year if there is a demonstrated need. Membership in the first clinic will be limited to 10 percent of the city's population, or almost 8,000 people. City residency will not be a requirement for service.
The Napa Police Department initially provided a laundry list of reasons as to why marijuana dispensaries would not be a good idea, saying that some cities have seen crime increases.
Council members and cannabis advocates cited examples of cities where such dispensaries have not caused problems.
Speakers at Tuesday night's hearing said medical marijuana would provide needed symptom relief to people with a variety of life-threatening and debilitating conditions.
"This is not recreational marijuana, it's medical marijuana," Jed Hodges told the council.
"There is a need for compassion," said David Aten, citing examples of people he knew with health crises.
As things now stand, "Anyone can get medical marijuana," Jack Bauer said. "What this will do is control it and make it available to those who need it."
Marijuana dispensaries will be allowed in certain office and light industrial zones, but not within 500 feet of schools, parks and other areas where youths gather.
To buy medical pot, a patient would have to have an authorization written by a medical doctor.
The city's ordinance allows people to devote up to 25 square feet in their homes for growing medical pot. The nonprofit group selected to run a dispensary will also be allowed grow plants in a warehouse in an industrial zone.
The city will scrutinize applicants, requiring criminal background checks, security plans and guarantees that most revenue get plowed back into the business, officials said.
An applicant that offers to donate profits to community groups would likely be favored over one that did not, council members said.
Tuesday's public hearing lasted 30 minutes, with all but two of a dozen speakers endorsing the city's medical marijuana ordinance.
The other four cities in the Napa Valley have all imposed moratoriums on pot clinics or banned them outright.
Dispensary applicants will have to pay a $7,000 deposit to cover the costs for reviewing their project. The applicant chosen for use permit review will have to deposit another $8,000.
Napa's ordinance follows state laws and court decisions which set rules for cities and counties that want to allow medical marijuana dispensaries, city officials said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: St. Helena Star
Author: Kevin Courtney
Contact: St. Helena Star
Copyright: 2010 Lee Enterprises
Website: Napa OKs marijuana dispensaries
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
After seven months of hearings dominated by passionate testimonials about the medicinal benefits of pot, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to make medical pot available to residents.
Councilmembers asserted that well-regulated dispensaries can provide a service to people with medical needs without becoming a blight on the city.
It could be as much as a year before the city issues a permit for its first dispensary. In coming months, the city will hold a competition to select a non-profit group to apply for a permit.
The use permit process alone could take six months, with public hearings in front of the Planning Commission and council on the suitability of a site.
Mayor Jill Techel said a majority of Napans support medical marijuana. When voters statewide approved an initiative legalizing cannabis for medical uses in 1996, some 60 percent of local residents voted 'yes,' she said.
"We feel voters have voted and said they want a safe place for care," Techel said. Napa's ordinance is loaded with security requirements to reduce the chances that a clinic will create problems, she said.
Councilman Pete Mott said Napa had written a model ordinance better than Sebastopol's, which is often cited as the gold standard for assuring a well-run clinic.
The city will allow only one clinic the first year, with the possibility of one more the second year if there is a demonstrated need. Membership in the first clinic will be limited to 10 percent of the city's population, or almost 8,000 people. City residency will not be a requirement for service.
The Napa Police Department initially provided a laundry list of reasons as to why marijuana dispensaries would not be a good idea, saying that some cities have seen crime increases.
Council members and cannabis advocates cited examples of cities where such dispensaries have not caused problems.
Speakers at Tuesday night's hearing said medical marijuana would provide needed symptom relief to people with a variety of life-threatening and debilitating conditions.
"This is not recreational marijuana, it's medical marijuana," Jed Hodges told the council.
"There is a need for compassion," said David Aten, citing examples of people he knew with health crises.
As things now stand, "Anyone can get medical marijuana," Jack Bauer said. "What this will do is control it and make it available to those who need it."
Marijuana dispensaries will be allowed in certain office and light industrial zones, but not within 500 feet of schools, parks and other areas where youths gather.
To buy medical pot, a patient would have to have an authorization written by a medical doctor.
The city's ordinance allows people to devote up to 25 square feet in their homes for growing medical pot. The nonprofit group selected to run a dispensary will also be allowed grow plants in a warehouse in an industrial zone.
The city will scrutinize applicants, requiring criminal background checks, security plans and guarantees that most revenue get plowed back into the business, officials said.
An applicant that offers to donate profits to community groups would likely be favored over one that did not, council members said.
Tuesday's public hearing lasted 30 minutes, with all but two of a dozen speakers endorsing the city's medical marijuana ordinance.
The other four cities in the Napa Valley have all imposed moratoriums on pot clinics or banned them outright.
Dispensary applicants will have to pay a $7,000 deposit to cover the costs for reviewing their project. The applicant chosen for use permit review will have to deposit another $8,000.
Napa's ordinance follows state laws and court decisions which set rules for cities and counties that want to allow medical marijuana dispensaries, city officials said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: St. Helena Star
Author: Kevin Courtney
Contact: St. Helena Star
Copyright: 2010 Lee Enterprises
Website: Napa OKs marijuana dispensaries
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
