As medical marijuana continues to gain widespread acceptance, it would seem logical that Santa Monica become a progressive bastion for the compassionate dispensing of the alternative medication. Less than a year ago, voters seemed to send a clear message to City Council and the Santa Monica Police Department — both of which were in clear opposition — with their overwhelming support of Measure Y.
Maybe their feelings were hurt or confidence shaken when close to two-thirds of all voters — those same voters who elected City Councilmembers — instructed the SMPD to make the prosecution of personal marijuana use its absolute lowest priority. So adamant were the voters that the measure includes a series of checks by city staffers to ensure that police adhere to voters’ wants.
In a nutshell, most of the council’s constituents and the PD’s charges don’t care if their neighbors toke away in their homes.
One year later, the council and police chief are being accused of stonewalling the regulation of medicinal marijuana dispensaries within the city’s borders. In this case, the use of pot isn’t just for kicks by pimply-faced slackers home on a Tuesday afternoon or former mayors on Rollerblades, but rather, chronically ill patients looking to alleviate their suffering. The state’s Compassionate Use Act, approved by voters in 1996, permits qualified patients and their caregivers to light up. The law was further enhanced by SB 420, which went into effect in January 2004 and created a state-approved medical marijuana ID card program.
Time and again, voters both in Santa Monica and across California have stated their wish to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Apparently, that isn’t enough for the council and Police Chief Timothy Jackman.
Nathan Hamilton, who operates a dispensary in Tarzana, has been waiting for a response from City Hall since February, contending that he has spent roughly $40,000 for the lease to his proposed dispensary location on Main Street, which continues to sit empty as elected officials seemingly contemplate ways of keeping him from opening up shop.
This week, Mayor Richard Bloom said he had no intention of discussing the matter anytime soon, and doesn’t “feel bad knowing that people have to drive a couple of miles to access this kind of business.” Tell that to someone battling cancer or AIDS. Maybe Bloom would rather have someone get high and drive back home to Santa Monica.
Bloom added that dispensaries fly “in the face of the pedestrian friendly atmosphere we are seeking.” It is questionable whether the “we” to whom he is referring includes his constituents, or is an exclusive club of high-ranking city officials, developers and police officers.
Jackman’s alarmist concerns about allowing a dispensary range from federal raids to drug traffick-ing to the profitability of such businesses. He questions whether the dispensaries would resort to selling illegal drugs in the event that sales drop. Couldn’t the same be asked of any business, or down-on-his-luck individual for that matter?
The police chief’s concerns about a particular business’ profit margin are heartwarming, but really beyond the scope of his office. A downtown dispensary — such as the one proposed by Hamilton — could be a non-profit, have security measures in place and prohibit use of the medicinal herbs on site. It would also likely be situated within minutes of the Public Safety Facility and Second Street substation.
Maybe Mayor Bloom and his fellow Councilmembers should ask the general Santa Monica populace if their “pedestrian friendly atmosphere” would be more adversely affected by a secure dispensary building with covered windows than rampant homelessness and congested streets.
They may not like the answer. But who’s asking the voters anyhow?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 27, 2007. Read the original PDF.