[420 Girl]

Officials in three north state cities taking different approaches to medical marijuana will cast decisive votes Tuesday.

The Red Bluff City Council is expected to cast a final vote on an ordinance banning medical marijuana collectives and cultivation within the city limits.

In Anderson, the council will hold a public hearing to consider extending the city's moratorium by four months on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives. The extension, which would run until April 4, would give city staff members more time to study issues surrounding the marijuana outlets, Planning Director John Stokes said in a report to the council.

Stokes also recommends that city officials come up with rules regulating marijuana cultivation within the city limits.

Officials in Redding - where an estimated 20 to 30 cannabis clubs operate - have avoided an outright ban. City Attorney Rick Duvernay has said the city would likely lose a court challenge should it attempt to regulate medical marijuana out of existence.

But Redding likely will adopt some of the tightest and most comprehensive regulations in the state to block collectives that may be illegally profiting from marijuana sales under the guise of California's Compassionate Use Act.

The revised ordinance up for consideration on Tuesday contains so many additions to the one debated last month that officials will introduce it as a different law, meaning the approval timetable is reset.

Redding's proposed ordinance gives the police chief the power to inspect cannabis clubs - including their books and records - for compliance with Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420. Collectives would have to apply to the police chief for operating permits.

The police-power provisions of Redding's ordinance have sparked concern among some of the collective operators in the city and from council member Missy McArthur.

The revised ordinance up for consideration Tuesday includes eight changes, most of which are designed to make collectives operate like pharmacies or medical offices.

Under the proposed additions, medical marijuana patients who get their medicine from collectives would have to:

Present a written doctor recommendation specifying an amount of dried medical marijuana for use over a defined period not to exceed one year. Doctors dictate usage when prescribing other drugs, city officials note.

Consent to allow the city to verify the recommendation from the doctor. Fraudulent recommendations are an issue, according to the staff report.

Verify they do not belong to any other medical marijuana collective in Shasta County. Patients cannot get medication from multiple pharmacies under the law, city officials note.

Other changes in the ordinance are aimed at collectives. These include:

Allowing only dried marijuana for sale or distribution. Many of Redding's cannabis clubs offer clones, or marijuana plant clippings, to patients so they can grow their own. Doctors prescribe medicine, not its raw materials, city officials say.

Requiring that cannabis clubs indemnify the city against any civil suit arising from collective operations.

Among other proposed changes, the city would define a collective as 10 or more members instead of one or more. The ordinance should not target medical marijuana patients growing their medicine at home, officials say.

The council first approved an ordinance regulating cannabis clubs on Oct. 20. But the council was unable to pass the ordinance on a second reading Oct. 26, when McArthur changed her vote, creating a 2-2 deadlock.

Mayor Rick Bosetti had been absent from both those October meetings, recovering from cancer surgery. He is expected to cast the tiebreaking vote Tuesday.

Reached early Friday, Bosetti said he had not yet considered the medical marijuana issue closely. But his general views suggest he may tip the council in favor of the proposed ordinance.

"I believe there are people who legitimately need to have marijuana and it helps them," Bosetti said. "I also believe there is a huge amount of abuse.

"So if it's going to be in the community, we need to make sure those who are using it in the proper manner are allowed to and those who don't, are not allowed," Bosetti said.
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If you're going:
What: Redding City Council meeting.
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Where: Council chambers, 777 Cypress Ave.
Agenda includes: Medical marijuana ordinance



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