Humans have been seeking to alter their consciousness since at least the dawn of recorded time. Answer this: How old were you when you made the discovery that spinning around quickly made you dizzy? I was five, and I liked it. Hmm.
Lemon Grove may be about to have a chance to change its culture consciousness. A petition drive to permit the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries has collected nearly double the number of signatures needed, and has been submitted to the Registrar of Voters for validation.
Of the more than 3,000 signatures collected, 1,754 must be from registered Lemon Grove voters to qualifiy the measure for the ballot.
From what I have read, one option the city has if the measure is qualified is to vote the ordinance into law at an upcoming council meeting. I am thinking that is not going to happen.
Secondly, the mayor and council can put put the measure on the ballot—whether that's a regular election or a special election, which the group organizing the petition drive has called for, remains to be seen.
The last, and most likely, course is that the ordinance will be reviewed, and a report issued, before any action is taken. The measure should, however, reach the hands of voters at some point.
Now, before you jump to whichever side of the medical cannabis issue you are on, let’s look at the economics.
The group that has brought the petitions forward, Citizens for Patient Rights, has targeted five San Diego County cities. You have the three beach cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas—and I will bet at least one of those seaside communities will pass the ordinance. In the less liberal bastions of East County, the Grove and La Mesa were deemed by the group most likely to succeed. Put that in your pipe, Santee and El Cajon.
A massive federal crackdown has shut down hundreds of medical marijuana collectives in San Diego. The cities that pass the ordinance are going to pick up the slack in the form of tax revenues, pegged right now at 2.5 percent on the retail transactions. Some estimates say this will add nearly $100,000 per year to city coffers, in addition to new businesses and jobs for the Grove (not to mention a possible spike in restaurant business).
I am not here to discuss the merits of medical cannabis, because that genie is out of the bottle. The country’s number one illicit plant is not going to be regulated away. Anyone who believes that really is hallucinating. When Pat Robertson of the 700 Club started calling for legalization, you have to believe the times have truly changed.
If you are interested in the latest research—without grandstanding—on medical marijuana, I would suggest checking this link: University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR).
There is a need to focus people’s opinions on the science, rather than the hysteria, concerning cannabis. Shall we be progressive, or regressive? The majority of Californians want medicinal cannabis. We just have to do it right.
