Orinda Drafts Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Orinda city staff members are drafting an ordinance banning medical marijuana dispensaries (MMD) in the city.

The Orinda City Council directed the staff Tuesday to prepare a permanent law to replace a temporary moratorium passed two years ago.

No resident has requested authority to open an MMD, said Orinda Planning Director Emmanuel Ursu. Staff had received one e-mail from a resident advocating a ban.

The Orinda move comes a week after.

In Orinda, Mayor Victoria Smith said she was sympathetic to people suffering from cancer or other illness that medical marijuana relieves. “It’s unfortunate if such people who live in our community have to travel some distance” to get medical marijuana, she said.

However, if Orinda opened an MMD, she added, it might become a traffic magnet.

Councilmember Sue Severson advocated the ban for public safety. Allowing MMDs further strains city police services that are already stretched, she said.

“If there is someone in medical need,” she said, “there are many other options that can be pursued locally.”

Police Chief Jeffrey Jennings said Wednesday, "I believe there is access to medical marijuana in nearby cities and so there is no urgent need for a dispensary in Orinda."

If Orinda were to have an MMD, Jennings said, "I believe calls for service due to suspicious people (not known to the area) coming in to purchase marijuana would increase. The crime of opportunity may increase, either robbing people for their marijuana or knowing the people coming to purchase marijuana often do so with cash. Plus the dispensary itself could be a target for robbery, like it has been in other cities."

Some 48 California cities and counties have adopted ordinances allowing and regulating MMDs, and more than 130 cities have imposed bans, according to an Orinda staff report on the issue, citing an August 2010 source.