The Morgan Hill City Council extended its current ban on medicinal pot clubs for another year giving it enough time to decide what side of the law it wants to uphold.
While federal law prohibits the sale and use of marijuana, state law allows its sale and use for medical purposes since 1996.
"Do we really need to ban it at this point?" asked Mayor Steve Tate Wednesday evening during a regularly scheduled council meeting at City Hall.
Nobody in the audience spoke before the action.
Last March, the city imposed a 45-day moratorium on medicinal marijuana dispensaries.
Mike Henderson, a South County resident, approached the city at that time stating that Santa Clara County was too "dry" in terms of finding medical marijuana for suffering patients.
After the first moratorium expired in April, the city opted to enforce state law that allowed it to extend the ban by 10 months and 15 days.
Now that that prohibition expired, this new one-year ban takes effect immediately.
This past fall, the federal government shut down and threatened to seize properties that dispensed medical marijuana in Oakland and San Francisco.
Brian Stott, assistant to the city manager, predicts that the conflict will not change within the next year.
The council still opted to wait it out and see if any changes occur.
Councilmember Mark Grzan pointed out that cities in Santa Ana County allow hospitals and state licensed care facilities to dispence marijuana to patients with a doctor's prescription.
He asked Stott and his staff to find out if there are any licensed care centers in Morgan Hill, like senior centers, giving marijuana to treat different illnesses.
Grzan recognized that dispensing marijuana to critically ill patients serves a purpose.
"My heart goes out to anyone with a terminal illness where the use of this drug extends their life in a peaceful way," Grzan said. "I believe them if they feel better or it helps them to eat, but I don't think it's right for the community. We at least owe it to them to granting an extension."
The Morgan Hill Police Department has expressed concerns that opening a pot club in the city could increase violence in the community and calls for service to a department that is already understaffed, according to Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
According to Stott, the shortage of Morgan Hill police plays a large role in the decision to keep the clubs out of the city.
"What we have is a shortage of police and they're already working hard enough," Stott said. "There aren't any clubs in the South County and we as a city feel that it isn't appropriate for Morgan Hill to be a hub."
With no public input, the council asked the staff to look into the issue further get more clarification on the subject and find any state licesensed care centers in the city.
If you drive a little south of Morgan Hill, you can stop into two medical pot clubs in Santa Cruz, which opened their doors in 2006.
Over the past two years, the Surf City has bragged to have no serious crime surrounding its new pot clubs as it requires consistent police inspections.
Jeremy Barousse Jeremy Barousse writes for the Morgan Hill Times. Send him an email.
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