Santa Ana’s City Council has only one Republican on it. But they voted to ban medicinal marijuana. However, the majority Republican City Council in Fullerton took a different path when “A proposed ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city was defeated by the City Council on Tuesday night, with the panel indicating it will instead establish regulations for the outlets, according to the O.C. Register.
Here are a few more excerpts from the Register’s article:
If the City Council does indeed vote to regulate the dispensaries, Fullerton would apparently become the only Orange County muncipality with such regulations.
The council voted 3-2, with councilmen Don Bankhead and Dick Jones supporting a ban.
On Feb. 19, the council is scheduled to consider how to regulate the retail outlets; staffers were told to analyze the current requirements and update zoning maps for possible dispensary locations.
“There is no need to have these businesses in Fullerton, but this is a zoning issue,” said Councilman Shawn Nelson, who with Mayor Sharon Quirk and Councilwoman Pam Keller agreed California voters supported the dispensaries by a large margin when they adopted Proposition 215 in 1996.
Federal laws prohibit medical-marijuana dispensaries.
The council majority for the vote emphasized they were not in favor of marijuana.
“But we need to stay out of the crossfire (between the state and federal governments),” Nelson said.
A staff report indicated that 21 Orange County cities have banned dispensaries. More recently, Huntington Beach and Anaheim reversed their approvals.
Bravo Fullerton City Council members (with the exception of Dick and Don)! A big raspberry to Anaheim, H.B. and Santa Ana, as well as the other OC cities who acted like reactionaries in this regard.
A city that allows marijuana dispensiaries, massage parlors, hookah lounges, human signs, and can boast an actual downtown as opposed to a ghost town?!?!?!
No way, it must not exist. Just like the mystical, futuristic NASA technology that would be needed to record council meetings. Too bad.
So let’s see…when the Fullerton Council has a vote like this, you’re all in favor of it and it’s a clear step in the right direction, worthy of their attention. But when the Santa Ana Council has a vote on something like this, they’re focusing on issues not even worthy of consideration, poking their noses into something that the “free market” should decide.
Smart move Fullerton – now all those businesses will all go there to set up shop instead of coming to Santa ana – thank you!