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Before Pleasanton becomes the next Tri-Valley city to adopt an outright ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, City Councilman Matt Sullivan would like to form a task force to study community needs regarding the drug.

Whether or not the City Council ultimately decides to adopt a ban on dispensaries in town, Sullivan said he wants as much information as possible on the issue, and both sides of the story, before making a decision.

"We have not looked at the whole public health issue surrounding this," he said. "I am advocating for complete information and really making a good decision based on what's really going on in the community."

At today's meeting the City Council is scheduled to consider a proposed ban on dispensaries. The item was continued April 3 after Sullivan requested additional information.

Both the city's police chief and city attorney are urging the council to adopt the ban. They cite armed robberies, burglaries and vagrancy in other communities with marijuana dispensaries. They also pointed to cases of dispensary patients or others selling marijuana to people who are not legally entitled to use it.

While Livermore and Dublin also have bans on dispensaries, the city staff report notes that Tri-Valley residents qualified to use medical marijuana can obtain it in Hayward, Oakland, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and Berkeley.

As more cities continue to ban dispensaries, existing locations become overwhelmed.

In the past few years, about 20 cities have adopted bans, including Concord, Dublin, Pleasant Hill, Antioch, Oakley, Pinole, Livermore, San Pablo and Hercules.

Pleasanton's moratorium on marijuana dispensaries is set to expire in August.

In an April 17 letter to the Pleasanton City Council, Bob Swanson, a liaison for Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, also made the suggestion that the city create a medical cannabis panel to research the issue further.

"This is a very important issue to local patients who need the medicine for the diseases for which it is helpful," Swanson wrote.

He also noted that if dispensaries are located throughout Alameda County and within each city, patients would have easier access and each community could meet the needs of its own residents.

Sullivan said his goal is to obtain as much information as possible before a final vote is taken. He wants to know more about cities with dispensaries where criminal problems have not occurred; the medical benefits of marijuana; and the community's needs for medical marijuana.

"The information we received doesn't talk about what the needs of the community are and how those who need it get it now," he said.

According to the city staff report, local patients in need of medical marijuana would prefer a dispensary in eastern Alameda County because they are not comfortable with the homeless people who loiter outside the Hayward dispensary.

If you go

The Pleasanton City Council will meet 7 p.m. today at the City Council chamber, 200 Old Bernal Ave.



News Hawk- User http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: ContraCostaTimes.com
Author: Meera Pal
Contact: mpal@cctimes.com
Copyright: MediaNews Group
Website: ContraCostaTimes.com - City Council to consider marijuana dispensary ban