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<br /> <br />6D <br /> <br />City Council <br />Staff Report <br /> <br />September 20, 2005 <br />Police Department <br />City Attorney's Office <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />Medical Marijuana Dispensaries <br /> <br />STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council: <br /> <br />I) Extend the existing moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries for 10 <br />months and 15 days as allowed by law to protect a current and immediate <br />threat to the public health, safety and welfare; and <br /> <br />2) Direct staff to send the attached letter to federal representatives. <br /> <br />SUMMARY: <br /> <br />State law allows a person to use marijuana for medical purposes with a <br />doctor's recommendation pursuant to Proposition 215, the Compassionate <br />Use Act of 1996. In particular, a person and his or her "primary caregiver" <br />are not subject to state criminal laws for the possession or cultivation of <br />marijuana for personal medical use. However, the Act does not allow <br />distribution to others or for a profit, and federal law still prohibits even <br />personal medical use of marijuana. <br /> <br />On August 16,2005, the City Council adopted a forty-five day moratorium <br />on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, because of the <br />proliferation of such dispensaries in the Bay Area and increasing <br />information about negative impacts of such uses, such as crime, vagrancy <br />and blight. Additional time is needed to analyze the issue and consider <br />possible licensing, land use and other regulations, particularly given the <br />ongoing conflict between federal and state law. <br /> <br />A zoning prohibition on medical marijuana dispensaries does not prohibit <br />private medical marijuana use under state law consistent with the <br />Compassionate Use Act. <br /> <br />Honorable Mayor and Members of the Council: <br /> <br />SR: 05:261 <br />Page 1 <br />