The War is not over.. The Hate continues!

Madera Co. bans pot dispensaries
Published online on Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009
By Pablo Lopez / The Fresno Bee

Fresno is taking a new approach in its effort to keep medical marijuana dispensaries from opening up in the city: going after the landlords.

The city is asking property owners to evict the dispensaries. In return, the city will end legal action against them.

Fresno attorney Richard Runcie, who is representing two dispensaries -- Earthsource and Central Valley Collective -- accused the city of trying to do "an end run" around the legal proceedings by "trying to scare the landlords."

All of a sudden, medical marijuana has become a thriving business in Fresno -- in storefronts around town and in Superior Court.

In recent months, at least nine dispensaries have taken root in the aftermath of a change in federal drug policy. Now city officials are asking a judge to shut them all down under a city zoning rule that the businesses say is impossible to comply with.

Lawyers for the city and the businesses are scheduled to face off Sept. 17 before Judge Alan M. Simpson on the city's request for injunctions that would force the businesses to close.

The city of Fresno may be within the law in seeking injunctions against marijuana dispensaries [story Sept. 5]. However, the city is out of step with popular opinion. California law permits medical marijuana use, and the federal government has stopped raiding medical marijuana dispensaries that comply with state law. What part of this is so hard for our mayor to understand?

In a time of budget constraints, why is the city wasting tax dollars on this folly? Does the mayor have any evidence that these dispensaries are anywhere close to the nuisance posed by the liquor stores that populate almost every intersection in Fresno? People are being helped by medical marijuana with no apparent downside. Why does Fresno keep marching backward toward prohibition when the rest of the country is moving forward?

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Madera County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an ordinance that bans medical marijuana dispensaries in the county.

Supervisors said dispensaries can increase crime, including drug-dealing, robbery and loitering, which impairs the health, safety and welfare of the community.

There are three medical marijuana dispensaries in Madera County -- one in Oakhurst, one outside Madera city limits and one near Highway 41 and Avenue 15, east of Madera.

They have been operating without a permit, Supervisor Frank Bigelow said.

Now, they will be shut down because the ordinance takes effect immediately, he said.

A 1996 California voter initiative allowed the use of medical marijuana. But the act does not "expressly authorize medical marijuana dispensaries," the ordinance said, and the state has not given counties or cities direction on how to implement the act.

Federal law treats marijuana as an illegal drug.

An explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state has left cities and counties scrambling to figure out how to handle them.

Fresno, for example, has sued nine such dispensaries in an attempt to shut them down.

Originally Posted by JackTheGrower

They have been operating without a permit, Supervisor Frank Bigelow said.

that's where they are messing up, the need to go threw the right procedures and paper work to operate this kind of business...You would think that they would try to do everything buy the book....fuck'n madera

It's not just there it's all over the State.. I'm suspecting it's an organized attack.

The War is not over.. Let's hope that appeals court overturns that ban in Anaheim.
That would be a step in the right direction..

Also Guys It is signature gathering time for CaliforniaCannabisInitiative.o rg

Oaksterdam got it's green light today and they will PAY people to gather signatures..

So lets get volunteer on this so we don't end up with a 5x5 Garden if you county will allow it.

Do you think Madera will allow it?

Oh yeah Jack, this is definately the MO that SD started. O'side, temecula, etc.

This is their last and best tactic but there should have been sumpin in sb420 to anticiapte this and prevent this.

Hindsite is 20/20

Yeah I agree! Because if given the chance we see the hate!

That's the message I'm trying to spread.. I am calling it "the hate."

So far so good because, Blue Dot, many who follow the hate haven't thought of it that way. Once they do it causes them to think about it.

[megayields]

THis is only one of 2 threads with Madera County mentioned so Im trying to get a question answered.

I am trying to (possibly) start a greenhouse grow in Madera County and I'm having a hard time finding simple plant limits? Is it 12 outdoor? Is a greenhouse considered indoor or outdoor? Can I get "away" with 50 in a 25 x 50'?

I'm literally hoping someone who is currently "active" can give me an idea of what is possible, legal or otherwise, thank you in advance.

Mega

I know that Fresno has banned all medical deliveries now and may have banned the 4 plants indoor too.

Madera is banned within city limits I believe. But, you can grow 100 sq. ft., no plant limits in the county as long as it is not visible/behind locked doors, etc.

[megayields]

Thank you...ill look elsewhere

[aridbud]

Yeah, Madera seems to be quite conservative. Know one of the judges there from eons ago while attending college (NM). Big fish in a little pond.

Continue to pursue growing there....be careful, though.