In Limbo

San Diego Mayor: Dispensaries Must Wait Until New Ordinance is Final

Change happens . . . but it takes time.

Proponents of medical cannabis in San Diego County who have embraced efforts to legitimize safe access—such as San Diego Major Bob Filner—have a bit of a waiting game on their hands. When the pro-MMJ Filner was recently asked if any dispensary should be operating in San Diego, Filner’s response rang loud and clear.

“There should be none,” Filner stated.

When U-T San Diego, in its June 12 edition, ran an article on San Diego’s MMJ struggles (“Filner: Med pot shops are illegal”), it underscored the uncertainties regarding the city’s currently operating dispensaries.

“It’s still illegal,” Filner said. “There is no [land-use] zone that allows it and we will enforce it,” the U-T reported. “And, in fact, code enforcement is investigating any report that we have of those violations.”

The grey area that exists in San Diego leaves dispensaries in a limbo, some argue. Local dispensaries began re-opening around San Diego amidst no action being taken since the start of 2013, when Filner ordered police and code compliance officers to stop investigating collectives. Filner was then on record backtracking a few weeks later when he issued a statement with City Council President Todd Gloria and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith stating a new ordinance is coming, but until its adoption, no dispensaries would be allowed. Filner’s latest statements have shown his stance is not favorable for existing dispensaries, until a new ordinance is adopted.

“We said it is illegal until a new ordinance is formed and we will enforce it,” Filner added.

In April, the City Council revisited the failed 2011 ordinance with minor alterations instead of supporting a new proposal by Filner. The City Attorney’s Office has the drafted proposal for a new dispensary ordinance. It is currently going before local community and planning groups for review over the next several weeks. Since everything is still on the proverbial drawing board, and as of now still no official date has been set for a council vote, the dispensaries operating in San Diego could be doing so at their own risk.

Quoted in the U-T this past month, Eugene Davidovich, local coordinator with the San Diego Chapter of Americans for Safe Access, said he disagrees with the premise that dispensaries are currently illegal. He pointed out that the zoning laws do not address them in any way, and reiterated that the City Council voted unanimously in April to craft an ordinance that would allow them to operate. He considers those dispensaries currently providing medication to patients in need as “admirable and courageous.”
“The reason we have so many [dispensaries] out there is because there is a need for sick and dying people to have a place to walk into with safe and reliable access to marijuana,” Davidovich says.
Some estimates say here are currently over a dozen medical marijuana dispensary locations operating in the city. Medical marijuana patients are grateful for the safe access to cannabis these locations are currently providing medication in this current time of uncertainty. Until an official date is set for a vote on the new ordinance, whether or not the city will take action against these storefronts that have opened their doors ahead of the implementation of any new ordinances has yet to be determined.

Rules of Engagement

The current drafted proposal for San Diego’s MMJ regulations would limit dispensaries to some commercial and industrial zones, requiring them to be at least 1,000 feet from each other as well as child care, churches, libraries, parks, playgrounds, schools and youth facilities. The collectives must operate as nonprofits, adhering to a set of standard business hours and have security guards for patients’ safety.