CLOVIS' NEW POT LAW CRITICIZED

Restrictions Irk Medical Marijuana Advocates

A new medical marijuana ordinance takes effect next month in Clovis,
but activists told the council Monday night that banning medical
marijuana dispensaries will be a problem.

The ordinance does not allow dispensaries but allows cooperatives
where up to 99 plants can be grown. City officials said they do not
want money to be exchanged if the marijuana is being grown in a
cooperative situation.

David Wolfe, assistant city attorney, said the city's ordinance was
an effort to strike a balance between prohibiting dispensaries and
allowing a cooperative growing effort.

Dispensaries are against federal law, but some California medical
marijuana advocates say they are written into California law. It was
a significant reason for a lawsuit against the city of Fresno by
Americans for Safe Access.

Wolfe disagrees, saying he does not view state law the same way.

Mark Stout, a member of Californians for Safe Access, a group that
has sued the city of Fresno for its ban on dispensaries, said
dispensaries are needed because many people who are prescribed to use
medical marijuana live in apartments or do not have room to grow
their medicine.

"The ordinance is a de facto prohibition on dispensaries," Stout
said. "Without dispensaries, you take the only safe way many patients
have for safe access to medical marijuana."

He said Americans for Safe Access consider a ban on dispensaries a
violation of state law.

California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996 to ensure
seriously ill Californians have a right to obtain and use marijuana
for medical purposes. Patients must obtain a doctor's order and can
use the drug for treatment.

Under the Clovis ordinance, cultivation will be limited to six mature
plants or 12 immature plants per patient and requires the collective
cultivation of no more than 24 plants in an industrially zoned area
or on certain large residential lots that exceed 24,000 square feet.
A cooperative must be located in a similar industrial setting. In all
cases, growing marijuana must be done inside a locked enclosure.

The ordinance also limits the number of patients for a provider to
four, including relatives who use the drug as a pain medication in
the same home.

The city will allow smoking outdoors as long as it is done out of public view.

In other action, the City Council approved spending $2,726 as its
share of a payment to Fresno Council of Governments, which will pay
for California Consulting to serve as a lobbyist to the council of
governments for transportation projects.

Fresno COG is the county's chief transportation-planning agency and
sets priorities for major street, highway, transit and other
transportation projects. California Consulting is operated by former
Fresno-area state Assembly Member Steve Samuelian.

Clovis, along with Reedley, voted against hiring Samuelian. Kingsburg
officials abstained.

Clovis Mayor Nathan Magsig said he believed Sacramento-based Smith,
Watts & Co., represented by Mark Watts, a former state transportation
undersecretary, was the most qualified firm.

Magsig said Clovis council members may want to consider using Smith,
Watts & Co. as a lobbyist for Clovis' transportation needs. He said
Reedley officials plan to meet with Watts and Kingsburg leaders are
considering a similar meeting.

Council Member Lynne Ashbeck said she was discouraged by Fresno COG's decision.

"We in Fresno County have had a history of not making choices based
on competence, but making choices based on politics," she said. "This
is a horrible step back for the county."

She voted to endorse the payment to Fresno COG, saying that it was an
"aye for the COG relationship."

The council also approved pre-zoning a 225-home subdivision on 78
acres between Bullard and Barstow avenues, east of Locan Avenue.
Clovis expects to annex the property soon.