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Sacramento City Council freezes pot dispensary permits
by Ryan Lillis, The Sacramento Bee With legal uncertainty swirling around the issue, the city of Sacramento formally entered a holding pattern on its issuance of medical marijuana permits Tuesday night in a move that advocates said could help save the industry in the city. Last month, City Manager John Shirey ordered a "temporary freeze" on new permits for medical marijuana dispensaries as federal authorities launched a series of crackdowns on the facilities around the state. At least three Sacramento dispensaries have been investigated by federal drug enforcement agents. At the same time, a state appellate court ruled that a medical marijuana ordinance in Long Beach – a law similar to the one in Sacramento – violates federal law, which regards marijuana as an illegal drug. The City Council followed Shirey's order on Tuesday in an 8-1 vote by extending the due date for medical marijuana permit applications from October of this year to May 2012 and delaying the final day that dispensaries can operate without a permit from Jan. 9, 2012, to Aug. 13, 2012. Only Councilman Darrell Fong voted against the move. Tuesday's debate was not on whether the city should continue to allow medical marijuana dispensaries. While placing the permits in a holding pattern may put the dispensaries' long-term prospects in question, it does not mean that any of the city's 38 shops will need to close. City Hall is counting on taking in an estimated $1 million annually in voter-approved taxes from medical marijuana receipts. The city has also collected $1.2 million in permit and license fees from dispensaries since the council voted last year to allow the shops. Other cities and counties around the state are also reviewing how they regulate medical marijuana dispensaries following the federal crackdowns. Local medical marijuana advocate Ryan Landers said he and others "stand by extending these dates." "The bigger thing is that patients are going to get their medicine," Landers said. "We don't need to see (patients) go down because the law is in a fuzzy state." |
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