California Advocacy Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

California Advocacy - Research Paper Example This essentially will make the very sickest of San Diegans go to the black market to obtain the drug, because many of these San Diegans rely upon public transportation. Locating these cooperatives in industrial zones will take the cooperatives out of reach of public transportation modes, such as trolleys and buses. Although the other side does have valid points, in that many of the cooperatives have abused their privileges, as these cooperatives are selling to individuals who do not have medical marijuana cards, this is not true of all cooperatives. Therefore, the only fair regulation of the cooperatives would be to examine all cooperatives thoroughly, and separate the wheat from the chaff. The cooperatives which are serious, in that they only sell to individuals with valid medical cards, should be allowed to stay open and stay within the city limits. The others will simply have to close. This is the only way to please the people who are concerned about the abuses associated with the se cooperatives, while ensuring that the very sickest continue to get the treatment that they need and deserve. Examination of the Issue The City Council of San Diego voted, 5-2, on March 26, 2011, to put restrictions on the medical marijuana dispensaries located within the city.1 These restrictions would close down the dispensaries for one year, then, after the year is up, the dispensaries may only operate in industrial zones .2 The final ordinance is a slight improvement over what was proposed. In the original proposed ordinance, dispensaries would have to apply for permits while going through the strictest permit approval process in the city, which would be a Process 4. Process 4 also covers new airports and mines.3 The proposed ordinance also would have required that the dispensaries, after the one year ban, would only be able to open up in areas that are more than 1,000 feet of churches, schools, child care facilities, libraries, parks, youth facilities and other dispensaries. 4 While this was the proposed ordinance, the city council, after hearing testimony from concerned citizens, voted to reduce the 1,000 feet requirement to 600 feet, and to reduce the Process 4 permit process to a Process 3, which is less onerous.5 City councilman Todd Gloria indicated that the 1,000 foot requirement was reduced to 600 feet, as the 1,000 foot requirement would have forced the dispensaries out of the communities that most support them, namely Ocean Beach and Hillcrest.6 However, the city council did nothing about the part of the ordinance that requires that the dispensaries only locate within industrial zones and did nothing about the requirement that every dispensary must close down for one year before re-opening.7 The cost of a permit would be high, from $25,000 to $35,000.8 The proposed ordinance will come up for a second and final vote on April 12, 2011.9 The dispensaries opened up when California passed Proposition 215, by a margin of 55.6% to 44.4% in 1996. It wa s the first state ever to pass such as law.10 When Proposition 215 passed, language regarding medical marijuana was added to the California Health and Safety Code that stated, in effect, that purposes of the Compassionate Use Act 1996 is to protect individuals from prosecution if they possess marijuana that is legally prescribed by a doctor,