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Santa Barbara Set to Implement New Marijuana Ordinance
Santa Barbara’s new ordinance on medical marijuana goes into effect July 29, and city officials are readying themselves to implement the new requirements.
After nearly a year of revisionary meetings, the consensus called for a three-storefront citywide cap and stricter security and operational rules.
Only one of the three permitted storefronts — at 331 N. Milpas St. — can stay, and all other locations have six months to shape up, with a permit under the new ordinance, or close up.
Under the new ordinance, members must live within Santa Barbara County and have a valid doctor’s recommendation, cultivation must be within the tri-counties and the operations can’t turn a profit — although reasonable compensation is thought to be acceptable. Vending machines are OK, as long as they’re located within a permitted collective dispensary, and edible products also are allowed.
In fact, according to the ordinance, anyone who “assists” in preparing the edibles will be viewed as “an individual who provides assistance to a qualified patient or person with an identification card, or his or her designated primary caregiver, in administering medical marijuana to a qualified patient ...” as the phrase is mentioned in the Health and Safety Code.
Criminal Investigations
While the zoning ordinance requires operators to comply with state laws — such as being nonprofit — a permit is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card.
The Pacific Coast Collective is permitted at 331 N. Milpas St., but after a traffic stop prompted an investigation, the owner was arrested and charged with cultivation and possession for sales of marijuana, and the storefront was temporarily shut down, Santa Barbara police Capt. Armando Martel said.
Martel, who represented police at most city meetings on the subject, is a 25-year veteran of the department in charge of the investigative division.
Local law enforcement agencies have conducted raids on several city dispensaries and residences, which yielded arrests and seizures of marijuana and cash for evidence purposes.
“The city takes people for face value when they say, ‘I’m going to open up this business,’” he said. “(The city) isn’t endorsing them — there’s an assumption that the business owners are going to obey laws.”
Regardless of civil actions, the police department will always investigate potential law violations, whether they’re reported by the public or discovered by police personnel, Martel said.
“Don’t think that I or anyone else thinks, ‘I’m going to go to a dispensary and pick on them,’” he said.
Investigations into the storefront collective and dispensary raids are resource-and-time intensive and can take four to six months from the start to getting warrants and taking enforcement action, Martel said.
Enforcing the Ordinance
Danny Kato, a senior planner with the city’s Community Development Department, had stayed busy with storefront-collective applications and ordinance updates, but has found a reprieve now that policy decisions are made.
He said he’s in the middle of writing letters to all known dispensaries telling them to close or update their applications.
Many applications stuck in limbo while the moratorium was in place are no longer valid, Kato said, leaving at least three current owners vying for two open spots — all of whom ignored cease-and-desist letters issued by the city attorney.
The Santa Barbara Patients Group has an application for a new location, and The Compassion Center on De la Vina Street and Hortipharm on Upper State Street have applications submitted with updated operational plans to comply with the new ordinance.
The owners of the Pacific Coast Collective and Hortipharm were arrested on charges of possession of marijuana for sales after investigations into compliance with the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting cases involving six dispensaries, four of which are within city limits, District Attorney Joyce Dudley told Noozhawk in an e-mail.
She said that everyone arrested in connection with those cases is awaiting preliminary hearings, most of which are scheduled for August or September.
No owner of a dispensary can have a felony conviction, but the city takes no action on arrests alone, Kato said.
“We’re not going to try to revoke their permit just on the arrest,” he said of the Pacific Coast Collective.
Although some owners have been involved in court action with the city over shutting down, Kato said none complied right away with the cease-and-desist letters.
City Resources
Enforcement and the processing of applications can be a drain on the police department, the city attorney’s office and the community development department, but the heavy implementation process could be short-lived.
A new $120-per-hour fee for processing applications is designed to help with cost recovery, and after the six-month deadline to comply or shut down, there will be only three to deal with, Kato said.
Plans for annual reviews and record-keeping, with cooperation from the police department, are still being developed, but operators of storefront collectives must keep all financial, membership and cultivation records on hand for three years and make them available to city staff.
New applications will be accepted through July 29, although chances could be slim as there are many people fighting for two available spots.
“You could spend a lot of money and not even get the chance to present your case,” Kato said.
Other Jurisdictions
Santa Barbara County is one of 15 in California with a moratorium against dispensaries, and the city is one of 36 with an ordinance, according to Americans for Safe Access.
Many jurisdictions have their eyes on the November ballot measure that proposes legalizing the use of marijuana, and 101 cities have adopted moratoria and another 132 have bans. The Santa Barbara City Council approved a ballot measure for November that would ban all storefront collectives.
Just recently, the Ventura City Council continued its moratorium. During the meeting, some people made references to Santa Barbara, calling it a marijuana mecca, and said the distinction between legitimate collectives and for-profit dispensaries is too difficult to discern, according to the Ventura County Star.
The nearest areas with ordinances allowing dispensaries are cities in the Long Beach area, and Santa Clara and Tulare counties.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 07.23.10 @ 09:58 AM
What a joke. The multiple personality disorder of medical cannabis legislation in this town is an egregious violation of voter will. Shafting responsible collectives (like The Green Well) - that have complied fully with the city’s insanity up to this point - is sickening. If any other business had been treated this way by the CIty Council, they would be exposed to devastating lawsuits.
In the meantime, the Sheriff’s department has no obligation to city voters and apparently doesn’t give a shit about “lowest priority for enforcement,” as witnessed by the last week flying overhead with a helicopter looking for cannabis plantations.
End this ridiculous prohibition with the passage of Prop 19 this fall. Alcohol prohibition DID NOT WORK and the social and health impacts of cannabis use are significantly less than those of alcohol.
Forgive my rant, I’m sick of all the hypocrisy and nonsense. There are way more serious problems that our society needs to focus on.
» on 07.23.10 @ 11:30 AM
The Headline might as well read:
“Santa Barbara prepares to arrest, prosecute, and basically create chaos for the next 3 months. The City intends to make as much money during this time as possible with litigation that will eventually be thrown out by the courts and popular vote of the people.”
Joyce Dudley, who apparently has nothing better to do will oversee the entire criminal investigation while innocent victims of a broken government will pay heavy fines, be inconvenienced by possible jail time, and, of course, face unknown amounts of wasted time facing the authorities.
This is just plain “SICK”. Thanks City Council for a ridiculous moratorium - using the bad conduct of 35 other cities to justify the insane action.
» on 07.23.10 @ 11:47 AM
Hummm…lots of smokers out there, it looks like by these comments.
» on 07.23.10 @ 01:54 PM
Hello, JustBobF:
Slander is a false and malicious statement or report about someone.
Since you don’t know anything about me except my name, it would be good for you to retract your implication that I am a marijuana smoker - I’m just an advocate for the legalization of marijuana - that is all.
The Noozhawk knows your name and I will be expecting an apology from you today.
» on 07.23.10 @ 05:15 PM
JustBobF,
I think the voters already showed how many smokers or those that believe in the use of Cannabis there are.
» on 07.23.10 @ 10:04 PM
These are the provisions that I really wonder about for enforcement and verification:
“Under the new ordinance, members must live within Santa Barbara County and have a valid doctor’s recommendation, cultivation must be within the Tri-Counties and the operations can’t turn a profit — though reasonable compensation is thought to be acceptable.”
» on 07.24.10 @ 12:42 PM
Holmes you must be the thinnest skinned liberal out there and liberals by definition are pretty thin skinned with a predilection for screaming the loudest. Get over yourself.
Dope addled indignation is a hoot.
I love the comments that actually try to paint an illegal drug distribution facade as a legitimate business. “responsible collectives (like The Green Well) [versus irresponsible collectives?] - that have complied fully with the city’s insanity up to this point - is sickening. If any other business had been treated this way [this comment is trying to implant a justification for these drug houses to be defined as “businesses”. Right.
» on 07.24.10 @ 12:54 PM
I think a good dose of progressive taxes, regulations and nanny state reality always does a business good.
» on 07.24.10 @ 02:04 PM
re Bruce Holms: Get over yourself. Let people speak freely and vent online without silly “slander” threats.
» on 07.24.10 @ 07:56 PM
Its a lot like the City is allowing only one tank of oxygen for the whole city yet I breath freely thanks to a little help from my friends. Quality value deals at all time high. Seedless golfball, 40 an eighth. kil-ler.
» on 07.25.10 @ 11:39 AM
Dear “InTheMiddle” - you should really call yourself “HidingInTheShadows” - because you’re just a big mouth when no one knows who you are - your a scared, conserbative, tea bagging nutjob who is obviously more afraid of a plant than the growing size of government (which supposedly is the backbone of the “conservative movement”.
I think Bruce was right to react to the namecalling - let’s see how you react.
» on 07.25.10 @ 05:39 PM
Bruce…you have a twin with the same name. Try a different approach next time. As I said before:
Holmes you must be the thinnest skinned liberal out there and liberals by definition are pretty thin skinned with a predilection for screaming the loudest. Get over yourself.”
» on 07.25.10 @ 09:12 PM
Daniel Petry on 07.24.10 @ 12:42 PM
“Holmes you must be the thinnest skinned liberal out there and liberals by definition are pretty thin skinned with a predilection for screaming the loudest. Get over yourself.”
Daniel,
I can recall the town hall meetings where Conservatives were the ones screaming the loudest. Where did that group of nutjobs drift off to???
It is not the city’s insanity, it is the Voters of this State. Get over yourself with your tightfisted, tightwad mean spirited way of life and let people decide what is right…Blah Blah Blah with your conservative views of ‘Don’t tread on me’ and freedome from overbearing Government…as long as they don’t get in the way of you and your cronies. But use the Government to quash freedom of choice. You sir are Lame!
» on 07.25.10 @ 11:44 PM
Counterpoint. They are the ones voting in November. And yep I’m tight with MY money. I can rub the head off a penny. And I’m certainly mean spirited. But you’re quite welcome to give all you have to those you obviously feel have a better idea on how you will live your life. As if this has anything to do with the distribution of illegal drugs…other than those whose brains are so fried they can’t fend for themselves and need big brother to guide them?
» on 07.27.10 @ 02:42 PM
The point being is “Don’t tread on me”
Let the voters decide and not a handful of right wingers.
And I’d rather people use an ‘illegal’ drug than use drugs that cause infant mortality, birth defects, cancer, thoughts of suicide, uncontrolled bleeding….etc.
Just read any side effect disclaimer on pretty much all legal drugs, especially the newer ones that come along with their own Ad campaigns.
Why don’t you pick up some Avandia from your doc?
And even though it won’t cause coughing and a euphoric feeling and loss of nausea it will cause:
•Heart Attack
•Stroke
•Liver Failure
•Heart Failure
•Bone Fracture
•Vision Loss or Blindness
•Death
» on 07.27.10 @ 02:48 PM
By the way Daniel you wrote the following
“...you’re quite welcome to give all you have to those you obviously feel have a better idea on how you will live your life.”
Do you not see the Irony in this statement???
“those who have a better idea on how you will live your life.”
Sounds like you eh? You have a better idea on how Medical Marijuana users SHOULD live their lives.
Not only do we have irony in your statement we also have a big helping of Hipocracy.
Your flag should say “Don’t tread on me, tread on them” ***them being anyone that doesn’t share your views or values***
» on 07.27.10 @ 03:37 PM
Yawn.
» on 07.28.10 @ 03:43 PM
Good comeback. Yawn is right. You are boring with your same ol rhetoric. It’s a new dawn my friend. It’s like stopping a Tsunami with wishful thinking.
» on 07.29.10 @ 12:21 PM
Why are we even talking about any of this and what a waste of our county time and money. The election in November will decide this. Why not let all of the people speak, instead of a few on either side.
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