cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Site Issue Weighed function share_this(num) { tit=encodeURIComponent('Medical Marijuana Site Issue Weighed'); url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/26/thread26873.shtml'); site = new Array(5); site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit; site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit; site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit; window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500'); return false; } Medical Marijuana Site Issue Weighed Posted by CN Staff on March 06, 2012 at 19:40:02 PT By Tom Howell Jr., The Washington Times Source: Washington Times Washington -- D.C. Council members hope a medical marijuana site proposed in Ward 7 will not harm long-term development in the area. But they will not bar the proposed facility from opening if it jeopardizes the integrity of the city’s tightly regulated — yet unfinished — program to aid the sick and dying.Council member Yvette M. Alexander, Ward 7 Democrat, said she supports the medical marijuana program, but her constituents are concerned that a cultivation center awaiting final approval could hamper three- to five-year plans for retail and residential projects near Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue Northeast. Executives for the group proposing the Ward 7 cultivation center, Phyto Management, said they do not want to stand in the way of the neighborhood’s plans but they like their location and are not permitted to move their proposed site under rules set by the D.C. Department of Health.Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown asked Ms. Alexander to hold off on her legislative effort to ban Phyto from using the site, after city lawmakers Tuesday debated potential compromises that could satisfy all of the parties involved.Council member David A. Catania, at-large independent, offered an amendment that would allow applicants in the city’s medical-marijuana program to amend the location of their cultivation center or dispensary without jeopardizing their proposals before the city’s health department.Targeting a single location could open a “Pandora’s box” of objections to any number of marijuana-related locations, he said.“I think that is an invitation to mischief,” he said, adding the situation will become more complicated when dispensary applications are vetted in coming weeks.Ms. Alexander said Mr. Catania’s proposal was not forceful enough because it did not bar Phyto from using its Benning Road location.Council member Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, said targeting one site is a bad idea.“That’s unfair to the process and also destabilizing,” he said. “We don’t control zoning.”The council’s deliberation comes seven weeks after it decided to cap the number of medical marijuana facilities in each of the city’s ward, following objections by Ward 5 residents to excessive clustering of cultivation centers proposed for their Ivy City neighborhood.City lawmakers do not want to turn the medical marijuana initiative on its head through further action because the program should be operational by mid-year, after more than a decade of congressional interference and painstaking rule-making.Council member Vincent B. Orange, at-large Democrat who led the Ward 5 initiative, urged a Solomonic approach on the Ward 7 issue.“Let’s try to work out some type of compromise here and now,” he said.But Mr. Brown said the best solution would be to hammer out a deal ahead of the council’s next legislative session.Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Tom Howell Jr., The Washington TimesPublished: March 6, 2012Copyright: 2012 The Washington Times, LLC Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.com URL: http://drugsense.org/url/bjnE7kByCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by keninsj on March 07, 2012 at 16:59:35 PT: Costco poll. That's really funny Storm. I just don't know what I would do with a 24 pack of bong's, but what the hay.I placed my vote, I also verified that I could not vote over and over again, it did not increment after the first vote.It's amazing the numbers these polls get, especially when they are anonymous. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Storm Crow on March 07, 2012 at 06:25:16 PT OT- a COSTCO poll on cannabis legalization? http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201203#pg17Costco wants your opinion about cannabis legalization! Now, since a big corporation never does anything that costs money without a reason, I believe Costco is about to make some major changes in either their drug testing policies, or their gardening department! I think it's a bit too soon to hope that they will be adding a Costco paraphernalia section with inexpensive bongs and vaporizers, but I can hope! lolThe poll is holding around 90% for legalization! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment