Jacob Bell
New Member
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - One day after they are banned by Kern County officials, medical marijuana collectives are ready to fight back. Up to 30 dispensaries planned to meet Wednesday night with a local attorney.
The new ordinance unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday means the collectives must shut down in 30 days.
At Bakersfield Alternative Medicine, manager Susi Klassen said the battle is on.
"We have formed a coalition," Klassen told Eyewitness News. "We're united, and we're going to fight this." Klassen and other collectives say they are necessary to provide patients with medical marijuana, and they operate under state law.
County officials say the new ordinance meets state law, and the original intent of state voters who approved medical marijuana use under the "Compassionate Use Act of 1996."
At Tuesday's session, Supervisor Zack Scrivner told the packed house of cooperative supporters they'll still be able to access marijuana with informal networks.
Scrivner said he's convinced of that, based on the large number who turned out at the hearing. "You can all communicate," Scrivner said. "It's not going to be the same as going into a dispensary, I understand that, but I feel confident that you're going to find a way."
The dispensaries don't believe that. They especially think seriously-ill or elderly patients won't be able to access marijuana without collectives.
Attorney Phil Ganong is working with the local dispensaries. He told Eyewitness News they'll consider filing a lawsuit or starting the referendum process.
With a referendum, Ganong said after getting a copy of the final county ordinance that passed, they could draw up a petition and file that under the election code.
The next step would be getting enough signatures on the petition, and Ganong estimates they'd need 17,000. If they got the needed signatures, the petition could be filed with the county clerk.
Ganong said that would automatically suspend the ordinance, and the board of supervisors could then repeal the rules, or put the referendum on a ballot before Kern County voters.
The county's new rule also bans "edible" marijuana products.
But, the part of the new rule that went into effect immediately is the ban on any outdoor grow of more than 12 medical marijuana plants.
Law officers also say the large grows they've seen recently are nearly ready for harvest, and that means a lot of marijuana could soon be on the street. That convinced supervisors to enact that ban on an "urgency" basis.
A sheriff's drug officer told Eyewitness News officers pulled over a car Tuesday night that had 70 marijuana plants in it. The driver said he'd been growing it in the Lamont area, but had just pulled out the plants out because of the new ban.
The sheriff's department also told the board the large pot grows can be a magnet for violence.
At Tuesday's board meeting, Sheriff Donny Youngblood showed supervisors photos of a raid southeast of Bakersfield earlier in the day.
That large plot included 17 booby traps, which officers say were made up of modified shotgun shells, trip wires and rat traps. They were rigged up to fire at head or waist level.
"That was a dangerous situation," collective manager Susi Klassen said. "But that's not representative of this industry." She said dispensaries are there to help patients.
But with a dress shop on North Chester Avenue, Juanita Bradshaw said the collective next to her has caused problems.
"People don't want to come to my shop because they have to walk past that store," she complained. Bradshaw said after Tuesday's board decision, people at that dispensary had yelled and cussed at her.
She added that some other businesses told her they'd been broken into, apparently because someone was trying to get into a dispensary next door.
Eyewitness News, though, heard from some business owners who had no problems with collectives as neighbors.
Still, Bradshaw is grateful and relieved after the supervisors' action to ban the dispensaries. "I think they made the right decision," Bradshaw said.
Collective manager Susi Klassen disagrees.
"I believe in the people of the community," she said. "I believed in the system, and I think it was wrong."
Klassen and other dispensaries said they'll fight to stay open.
"We're just hoping that some justice is going to be done," Klassen said. "And that something good is going to come out of this for the patients."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: bakersfieldnow.com
Author: Carol Ferguson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Fisher Communications, Inc.
Website: Pot advocates pledge to fight dispensary ban
The new ordinance unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday means the collectives must shut down in 30 days.
At Bakersfield Alternative Medicine, manager Susi Klassen said the battle is on.
"We have formed a coalition," Klassen told Eyewitness News. "We're united, and we're going to fight this." Klassen and other collectives say they are necessary to provide patients with medical marijuana, and they operate under state law.
County officials say the new ordinance meets state law, and the original intent of state voters who approved medical marijuana use under the "Compassionate Use Act of 1996."
At Tuesday's session, Supervisor Zack Scrivner told the packed house of cooperative supporters they'll still be able to access marijuana with informal networks.
Scrivner said he's convinced of that, based on the large number who turned out at the hearing. "You can all communicate," Scrivner said. "It's not going to be the same as going into a dispensary, I understand that, but I feel confident that you're going to find a way."
The dispensaries don't believe that. They especially think seriously-ill or elderly patients won't be able to access marijuana without collectives.
Attorney Phil Ganong is working with the local dispensaries. He told Eyewitness News they'll consider filing a lawsuit or starting the referendum process.
With a referendum, Ganong said after getting a copy of the final county ordinance that passed, they could draw up a petition and file that under the election code.
The next step would be getting enough signatures on the petition, and Ganong estimates they'd need 17,000. If they got the needed signatures, the petition could be filed with the county clerk.
Ganong said that would automatically suspend the ordinance, and the board of supervisors could then repeal the rules, or put the referendum on a ballot before Kern County voters.
The county's new rule also bans "edible" marijuana products.
But, the part of the new rule that went into effect immediately is the ban on any outdoor grow of more than 12 medical marijuana plants.
Law officers also say the large grows they've seen recently are nearly ready for harvest, and that means a lot of marijuana could soon be on the street. That convinced supervisors to enact that ban on an "urgency" basis.
A sheriff's drug officer told Eyewitness News officers pulled over a car Tuesday night that had 70 marijuana plants in it. The driver said he'd been growing it in the Lamont area, but had just pulled out the plants out because of the new ban.
The sheriff's department also told the board the large pot grows can be a magnet for violence.
At Tuesday's board meeting, Sheriff Donny Youngblood showed supervisors photos of a raid southeast of Bakersfield earlier in the day.
That large plot included 17 booby traps, which officers say were made up of modified shotgun shells, trip wires and rat traps. They were rigged up to fire at head or waist level.
"That was a dangerous situation," collective manager Susi Klassen said. "But that's not representative of this industry." She said dispensaries are there to help patients.
But with a dress shop on North Chester Avenue, Juanita Bradshaw said the collective next to her has caused problems.
"People don't want to come to my shop because they have to walk past that store," she complained. Bradshaw said after Tuesday's board decision, people at that dispensary had yelled and cussed at her.
She added that some other businesses told her they'd been broken into, apparently because someone was trying to get into a dispensary next door.
Eyewitness News, though, heard from some business owners who had no problems with collectives as neighbors.
Still, Bradshaw is grateful and relieved after the supervisors' action to ban the dispensaries. "I think they made the right decision," Bradshaw said.
Collective manager Susi Klassen disagrees.
"I believe in the people of the community," she said. "I believed in the system, and I think it was wrong."
Klassen and other dispensaries said they'll fight to stay open.
"We're just hoping that some justice is going to be done," Klassen said. "And that something good is going to come out of this for the patients."
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: bakersfieldnow.com
Author: Carol Ferguson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Fisher Communications, Inc.
Website: Pot advocates pledge to fight dispensary ban
