Some California Cities Banning Medical Marijuana Providers

"I just don't want to be a regional magnet," said San Bernardino City Councilman Chas Kelley, noting that nearby cities had prohibitions on the books before San Bernardino followed their lead last month.

Although California passed Proposition 215 in 1996, in San Bernardino County, the response to medical marijuana has generally been to just say "no" - or at least "not yet." Officials in several local cities have adopted bans or moratoriums aimed at keeping cannabis providers out of some towns.

A California Police Chiefs Association report on medicinal marijuana argues that federal law trumps Proposition 215 and that dispensaries, which should be deemed illegal, are likely targets for criminals looking to score pot or cash.


"Marijuana dispensaries are commonly large money-making enterprises who will sell marijuana to most anyone who produces a physician's written recommendation for its medical use," the report reads. "These recommendations can be had by paying unscrupulous physicians a fee and claiming to have most any malady, even headaches."  See the story on such a physician at  http://www.dfaf.org/content/its-good-be-california-cough-cough

Kelley, the San Bernardino councilman, referred to the report in late September when he won his colleagues' approval to ban dispensaries from the city. He also echoed the concern that cannabis can be prescribed for trivial problems and that without a ban, San Bernardino could become a place where the sight of people "puffing away on weed" becomes a new obstacle to business development.


Redlands and Yucaipa have already banned dispensaries, and Rialto is moving in that direction.