Atwater joins cities banning medical pot sales

Atwater joined its counterparts in Merced County this week in enacting a ban on medical cannabis sales.

The City Council unanimously voted Monday to forbid medical marijuana dispensaries and deliveries in town. The city banned cultivation late last year.

The Merced and Los Banos councils approved similar bans last week, and Livingston adopted an ordinance allowing marijuana-card-carrying residents to grow two plants outdoors.

Atwater resident Garrett Mayer, 25, a medical cannabis user, gave an impassioned plea to the council before it enacted the ban. About three years ago, he had a cancerous brain tumor removed from his head.

The chemotherapy made him so ill, he said, he vomited blood. Then he tried cannabis. “It stopped me from having seizures,” he said. “This is a crucial thing for me.”

Without dispensaries in Atwater or Merced, he would be forced to travel to the Bay Area for medical marijuana. That’s an unreasonable distance to travel, he said.

Merced County cities have adopted ordinances this month to beat the March 1 deadline. Cities that do not have an ordinance by then must follow state regulations.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Framstad also spoke at the Atwater meeting, as he did at the other cities’ meetings. He recommended the ban, saying marijuana cultivation by drug cartels attracts violence.

Councilman Joe Rivero said he would like the council to revisit its decision on cultivation at a upcoming meeting to allow “really, truly sick” users to grow the plant inside their homes. “I do believe that there’s a lot of crime due to this, but I think we need to have a compassionate side,” he said.

Though cities in the county have mostly banned cultivation, unincorporated residents are allowed a dozen plants per parcel. To make sure that the county did not follow the cities’ lead, medical marijuana advocates addressed the Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Christine Meeusen, who goes by “Sister Kate” and runs the business Sisters of the Valley, said she recently purchased land in Merced County to grow marijuana.

Though the county allows residents to grow 12 plants per parcel, Meeusen said in a telephone interview with the Sun-Star she wants to grow a total of 60 plants. The plants would mostly be used for her business, which specializes in cannabis for cancer patients that does not include THC, the chemical that produces a high.

“We want a permit from you,” she told the board. “We want permission from you, and we want to be legitimized by you.”

Meeusen said she will pursue the process of getting a business license from the county in order to grow the plants.

Lakisha Jenkins, owner of Kiona’s Farm’acy in downtown Merced, said from all the county ordinances she’s seen throughout the state, Merced’s seems to be “progressive.”

“I’m impressed with the forethought and professionalism of the Merced County Board of Supervisors,” Jenkins said. “This is a progressive board that put thought into this issue.”

Board members on Tuesday didn’t express any intent to update the ordinance, which has been in place since September 2013.

“That is in effect and has been in effect,” said District 5 Supervisor Jerry O’Banion.

Jenkins said she views the board’s inaction as “a direct vow of support.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Atwater joins cities banning medical pot sales."