Planners oppose marijuana dispensaries

, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)

FONTANA - The city Planning Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend that the city ban medical-marijuana dispensaries as a land use.

Other area cities, including Yucaipa, Rancho Cucamonga, Claremont and Pomona, have taken temporary measures to block dispensaries. Medical marijuana has been prohibited in Grand Terrace, Upland, Montclair and Ontario.

The suggested ordinance would not prevent individuals or groups of people from cultivating their own marijuana for medicinal purposes as long as they did not accept compensation for the plants, said Don Williams, director of community development.

Ryan Michaels, a patient advocate, asked commissioners at their Tuesday meeting to consider whether the ordinance would burden patients by banning them from providing caregivers with reasonable compensation for marijuana.

Although commissioners recommended that the City Council adopt the ordinance, they directed staff to examine the reasonable-

compensation issue further, said Commissioner Bryan Clark.