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Palm Desert Right to Compromise on Medical Marijuana Dispensary
CannaHelp has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing
The Desert Sun | 02/27/2006

Palm Desert officials wisely have opted to compromise so a medical marijuana dispensary can remain open.

The City Council decided Thursday to not pull the business license of CannaHelp, a dispensary on El Paseo Avenue. CannaHelp, which has been open since October, agreed in exchange to sell only to clients carrying a county-issued medical marijuana identification card. It previously sold to anyone with a doctor's prescription or letter.

Palm Desert officials were concerned about the legality of the dispensary, given a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows federal agents to still bust anyone for possession of pot in states that allow medical marijuana. City police also were concerned that some people were acquiring marijuana without a doctor's prescription.

While the city holds legitimate concerns, ultimately it did not have enough cause to revoke CannaHelp's license.

We're certainly no fans of some details in California's medical marijuana dispensary laws. For example, there are no provisions for background verification of the owner's qualifications to run the operation. Though issuing prescribed medications, dispensaries do not have to meet the same standards as pharmacies. Indeed, state regulations are stricter for California's barbers than its medical marijuana dispensaries.

What the voters mandated

But regardless of how poorly its framers may have written the law, California voters decided the ethical issue of medical marijuana in favor of dispensaries. Nine years ago, they approved Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act. This allowed seriously ill state residents to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes, when recommended by a doctor. Marijuana typically would provide pain or nausea relief, especially to cancer patients.

Opponents of the medical marijuana dispensaries say federal law trumps the state proposition, but that position is shaky. The federal government labels marijuana as a drug for high potential abuse and with no accepted medical value, and considers growing, selling or possessing it a crime. Despite the federal government's stance, 11 states (four of which are "red") allow people to use medical marijuana while legislators in another state during the last month approved measures to legalize medical marijuana. Though the Drug Enforcement Agency has busted dispensaries in California, the federal government has taken no action to stop states that have legalized them.

Dispensary opponents' view that some buyers illegally share their supply with others, thereby making dispensaries a problem, holds little ground as well. The same issue exists with pharmacies, but society doesn't revoke businesses licenses if someone with a Vicodin prescription resells it to someone who doesn't. Nor do we close gun shops if someone buys a firearm and lets someone without a hunting license shoot deer or quail with it. The problem for law enforcement is not the business that legally sells an item but the individual who transfers the purchased good to someone who can't legally possess it.

Shaky foundation

Of course, any dispensary should be closed if it knowingly breaks the law. Just as a city should not sanction a tavern repeatedly selling alcohol to minors, so it should not sanction a dispensary selling marijuana to someone without the proper authorization. But at this point no charges have been filed against CannaHelp, and the business certainly has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing. Nor has there been any great concern from city residents about other problems, such as noise. As Mayor Jim Ferguson told The Desert Sun, "I haven't gotten a single phone call or letter from anyone in Palm Desert complaining about this."

The future of medical marijuana dispensaries is unclear. San Diego County recently filed a lawsuit to overturn state law, and last month San Bernardino County decided to join it. Presuming those counties are successful, state law would be overturned in federal court, making clear once and for all the legality of dispensaries in this and 10 other states. In the meantime, Palm Desert overstepped its bounds trying to revoke a license of a business that has not been found to have committed any wrongdoing.

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dedbr

the issue of transfer has been spoken. Transfer to a person "who can't legally possess it."

This is the gist of most anti argument's..."The kid's, the kids.....That's the reason you have dispensaries and pharmacies and gunshop's. Ded

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"Starry, starry night, Paint your pallet blue and gray, Look out on a summers day,
With eyes that know the darkness of my soul, Shadows on the hills, Sketch the trees and the daffodils, Catch the breeze and the winter chill, In colors in the snowy linen land......"

Vincent.... Don Mclean


Posting Guidelines!

Buzzby

Marijuana isn't dispensed under prescription. It can't be. Marijuana is not listed in the US Pharmacopeia and therefore can't be dispensed under prescription. Any pharmacist who filled a prescription for marijuana would lose his license.

Marijuana is dispensed under a doctor's recommendation, which is something else altogether. Other than being sure that he's selling real marijuana, what kind of qualifications would a person need to sell it?

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dedbr

maybe a clown suit and a bunker adress?