Pedro Nava demands halt to illegal pot dispensaries

Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D 35AD), a supporter of legitimate medical marijuana cooperatives under Proposition 215 (1996), calls for investigations and a moratorium on “wild west” style storefront dispensaries in the City of Santa Barbara.

Here is the full text of his letter to the City of Santa Barbara:

……………………..

November 30, 2009

The Honorable Marty Blum, Mayor
& City of Santa Barbara Councilmembers
City of Santa Barbara
P.O. Box 1990
Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1990

Mayor Marty Blum, Santa Barbara City Councilmembers:

According to the League of Cities website, there are almost 1,000 cities in California. So how did the City of Santa Barbara become just one of 35 cities (Source: Coalition for a Drug Free California) in the entire state that allow illegal store front marijuana dispensaries and permits them near schools and sober recovery facilities? How did Santa Barbara and Los Angeles reach almost the same number of dispensaries per 1,000 residents? Maybe it’s because San Luis Obispo to the north, Ventura and Oxnard to the south don’t allow pot dispensaries. Santa Barbara is the Central Coast magnet for pot profit.

This isn’t about medical marijuana approved by Proposition 215 supporters in 1996. This is about a situation that has spiraled out of control and threatens the fabric and quality of life for Santa Barbara families, as well as public safety and neighborhood integrity. Doctors are being recruited via Craigslist at $150 an hour cash to ply their services in Santa Barbara issuing pro-marijuana “recommendations” so dispensaries can have the customers they crave.

Let’s talk about Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. “Primary caregivers” occupy a very special place in the initiative. A primary caregiver is someone who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health or safety of the patient. Later, SB 240 (2004) further defined “primary caregiver.” SB 240 allowed marijuana to be collectively or cooperatively cultivated for medical purposes by qualified patients and primary caregivers. Cultivating or distributing marijuana for profit is expressly disallowed. Nowhere was the term “dispensary” to be found.

Is there anyone who can say with a straight face that the anonymous cash register clerk with no connection to the patient, other than taking their money, can satisfy the spirit and letter of the law? Or that the selling of marijuana that goes on day after day in our city isn’t for profit? Make no mistake, there are powerful interests and their allies promoting the pot trade and their motivation isn’t based on altruism.

The City of Santa Barbara must put an immediate end to continuing violations of the law. Unfortunately, there were inadequate regulations and restrictions put in place to prevent the consequences of the proliferation of pot dispensaries. I urge you to implement a moratorium on any and all pending and future permits for marijuana dispensaries being considered by the City. Any entity that has not perfected its permit must be included in the moratorium. In addition, permits that have already been issued for dispensaries must be reevaluated to ensure there were no irregularities and that their operations are conducted in a manner consistent with the Attorney General's guidelines, SB 240 and other applicable statutes.

Los Angeles Times writer Steve Lopez wrote about his experience obtaining a doctor’s recommendation for marijuana. No physical exam was conducted, no tests performed, no objective information evaluated before Mr. Lopez was handed the piece of paper making him eligible to purchase marijuana at one of the over 800 Los Angeles dispensaries. What is going on in Los Angeles and now in Santa Barbara was never contemplated by the authors of Proposition 215, who were seeking to find relief from pain for those whose physical conditions merited medical marijuana. In fact, the Wild West approach to pot shops will create a backlash against legitimate medical marijuana and the patients who need the help.

There isn’t a single Santa Barbara city elected official who knows the quality, quantity or source of the marijuana being sold on our streets. The Los Angeles City Attorney recently had random samples of pot dispensary product tested by the Food and Drug Administration. The results were frightening and startling.

How would you feel if your grandmother with glaucoma or cancer, or a loved one with AIDS suffering with a compromised immune system was smoking marijuana that contained 400 times the legal limit for pesticides and other toxics? And given the number of pot dispensaries in Santa Barbara, it’s a pretty safe bet the marijuana is coming from unregulated sources and locations, including remote pockets in the surrounding wilderness under the control of armed criminals who pose an expensive enforcement problem and dangerous threat to hikers and nature lovers.  There’s a reason Santa Barbara County-seized marijuana has grown from 67,556 illegal plants in 2008 to 238,335 in 2009 with a street value of over $720 million.

There are those who support the outright legalization of marijuana. Then prepare your initiative, gather your signatures and if you are successful and it makes it to the ballot, let the voters of California express how they feel about the issue. Right now marijuana in Santa Barbara is being sold in violation of the law without quality controls, regulations, inspections or protections for our community.

The proliferation of dispensaries must stop. Parents with school-age children deserve better than to have their kids walk in front of the marijuana dispensary on their way to class. Recovering substance abusers should not have to witness the proliferation of illegal pot shops as they struggle to resurrect their lives. And criminals who grow, distribute and sell illegal marijuana should not see Santa Barbara as just another market to exploit. It’s way past time to roll up the Santa Barbara welcome mat.

Sincerely,

PEDRO NAVA

Assemblymember, 35th District