Sonoma Compassionate Cannabis Policy

Sonoma
Compassionate
Cannabis Policy
Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
© EdgewireMedia 2017

Community Concerns
Lack of local access
Crime
Product accessible to children
Teen Use
Traffic Safety
Odor
Water use
Chemicals and Pesticides

Why should we have a local
dispensary? Patient Issues:
• Prop 64 was supported by 62% of Sonoma voters,
more than any other county city or the county
itself.
• Dispensaries provide essentials services that
should be readily available within the community.
• A rigid policy that bans medical cannabis
dispensaries deprives patients of the medicine
promised them by the Compassionate Use Act.
• Banning dispensaries places unnecessary hardship
on patients with limited mobility and financial
security.Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group

dispensary?
Regulated dispensaries are:
• legal under California state law
• helping to revitalize neighborhoods
• bringing new customers to
neighboring businesses
• not a source of community complaints 1

Why should we
have a local
dispensary?
Regulated dispensaries benefit the
community by:
• providing access for the most seriously ill and
injured
• offering a safer environment for patients than
having to buy on the illicit market
• improving the health of patients through
education and social support
• harm reduction for those dependent on
narcotics (opioids) and over the counter drugs 2
• having a greater than average customer
satisfaction rating for health care

“Delivery Only”
Not an Option Patients often require first hand experience at a
physical, walk-in style dispensary that openly
displays all options. Not only does a dispensary
offer a personal first-hand view, it allows the
patient to consult with knowledgeable staff who
can provide recommendations as to which strain
and dosing methodology may best suit a patient's
needs. In the case of delivery, patients are unable
to physically preview the medication and
determine on their own which item on the menu
is best for them until it arrives at the door.

dispensary?
Creating dispensary regulations combats
crime because:
• dispensary security reduces crime in the
vicinity
• street sales tend to decrease
• patients and operators are vigilant
• any criminal activity gets reported to
police

Other Benefits of a Dispensary
• Creates jobs
• Generates tax revenue
• Adding an adult use component
offers additional revenue
• A valuable source of charitable
donations and direct community
outreach
8

Crime and Medical Cannabis
Dispensaries
“Banks are more likely to get robbed than medical
marijuana dispensaries.”
- Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck 3
• An analysis of robbery and burglary rates
at medical cannabis dispensaries
conducted by the Denver Police
Department found that the robbery and
burglary rates at dispensaries were lower
than area banks and liquor stores and on
par with those of pharmacies.4

Crime and Medical Cannabis Dispensaries
• In 2015, Metro State University in Denver
reported no significant increase in crime
trends after retail cannabis outlets began
operating in January of the previous year, and
were unable to establish a link between legal
cannabis operations and particular types of
criminal activity.6
• In a 2016 study of 11 western medical
cannabis states, researchers found medical
cannabis laws to have no negative effect on
violent or property crime, and in fact to be
associated with significant drops in rates of
violent crime.7
“I don’t think the data really supports
[dispensaries] are more likely to be
targeted at this point.”
- Colorado Springs Sgt. Darrin Abbink 5
10

Crime and Cannabis Business
(Regional)
According to a recent city of Petaluma
staff report: 8
• Law enforcement agencies in Lake,
Marin, and Mendocino counties reported
no definitive causal link between
sanctioned cannabis-related businesses
and increased violent or property crime.

Crime and Cannabis Business
(County)
• Crime rates in Sonoma County are
generally down, vary city by city, and
have no discernable connection to
cannabis-related businesses.
• The Sonoma County Public Safety
Consortium' s crime analyst group did
not include cannabis-related crime in its
top–five priority projects list, which
suggests cannabis-related crime has not
been significant enough to merit special
attention and tracking relative to other
crimes.

Crime and Cannabis (Local)
• Crime in Santa Rosa, where dispensaries
and manufacturing of medical cannabis is
permitted, is down in both the violent and
property categories.
• Cotati currently allows one dispensary. The
Cotati Police Department reports a
negligible impact on calls for service or
crime connected to the city’s dispensary.
• Sebastopol currently allows two
dispensaries and reports no violent crime
directly related to the cannabis industry.

Security and Medical Cannabis
Dispensaries A robust security plan is a crime deterrent. It
includes, but is not limited to:
• Strict documentation and verification of
patients, mandated by state law
• Multiple camera surveillance system
• Exterior lighting system
• Professionally monitored robbery alarm
system
• Secure storage and waste to prevent
diversion, theft and loss
• Building Code compliant, commercial-grade
door and window locks

Dispensary Recommendations
• Allow a storefront medicinal dispensary/recreational retailer, with
delivery, within the city limits.
• Allow a storefront medicinal dispensary with delivery service
within the city limits.
15

Banking Solutions
This issue is on the road to resolution:
• The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking
Act of 2017 would allow banks to accept money
for cannabis-related businesses. It is currently in
US Senate committee.9
• The US Department of the Treasury's Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released
written guidance stating that it would not charge
a bank with federal crimes for accepting cannabis
money if the financial institution made sure that
the business was following all state laws.10
16

Banking Solutions
• The California State Treasurer is currently
leading the Cannabis Banking Working Group to
develop recommendations that will open access
for cannabis-related businesses to the banking
system.11
• San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles are
exploring proposals to open a public bank to
handle cannabis money without restrictions of
federal law.12
• As of September of 2016, the number of banking
institutions working with the cannabis industry
nationwide was 368 and growing.13
17

Banking Solutions
• Several banks and credit unions are
accepting cannabis-related deposits in the
State of Washington.14
• Some cannabis-based companies convert
their cash to money orders to pay taxes
and other expenses.15
• Other companies hire armored car
services to take cash directly to a Federal
Reserve Bank branch for shifting to a
friendly bank or credit union.16
18

Law Enforcement
• A Pew Research Center survey of nearly
8,000 police officers finds that more than
two-thirds of them say that cannabis use
should be legal for either personal or
medical use.17
• Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP), a group of police, judges,
prosecutors and other criminal justice
professionals that advocated for cannabis
legalization endorsed Proposition 64.

Traffic Safety
According to a study published in the
American Journal of Public Health :
• “Medical cannabis laws were associated with
immediate reductions in traffic fatalities in
those aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 44 years, and
with additional yearly gradual reductions in
those aged 25 to 44 years.” 18
• “Dispensaries were also associated with traffic
fatality reductions in those aged 25 to 44
years.” 19

Traffic Safety
Another study published in the American
Journal of Public Health concludes :
• “We found no significant association between
recreational marijuana legalization in
Washington and Colorado and subsequent
changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates in
the first 3 years after recreational marijuana
legalization.” 20

Traffic Safety A recent analysis conducted by the Cato Institute
states:
• “… [In Colorado] no obvious jump occurs after
either legalization in 2012 or the opening of stores
in 2014. Likewise, neither marijuana milestone in
Washington State appears to have substantially
affected the fatal crash or fatality rate.” 21
Another study of data from 19 states published
in The Journal of Law and Economics shows:
• an 8 to 11 percent decrease in traffic fatalities
during the first full year after legalization of
medical cannabis. 22

Traffic Safety ARIDE: Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving
Enforcement
• The Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving
Enforcement (ARIDE) program was developed by
the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) with input from a
number of Chiefs of Police Associations.
• The CHP is holding classes to train law
enforcement officers to observe, identify, and
articulate the signs of impairment related to
drugs, alcohol or a combination of both, in order
to reduce the number of impaired drivers and
impaired driving related traffic collisions.

Traffic Safety • $3,000,000 will go to the Department of
Highway Patrol Beginning in FY 2018-19
through FY 2022-23 to establish and
adopt protocols to address DUI issues

Teen Crime
Change in crime rate, 2014 (latest year) vs. 2010 (year before marijuana
decriminalized for all ages).
Source: California Criminal Justice Statistics Center (2015).
The trends in crime and drug problems in
California from 2010 through 2014 in the
three years of essentially legal marijuana
have been striking. As teenage arrests for
marijuana offenses (misdemeanor and
felony) fell by 73%, other teenage crime
has plunged as never before (down 26%
for drugs other than marijuana, down 33%
for violent crime, down 38% for all
felonies, down 45% for all offenses).
Violent deaths and deaths attributed to
drug abuse also fell, the latter sharply,
among teens. 23

• The results of a recent nationwide
study showed no evidence for an
increase in adolescent marijuana use
after passage of state laws permitting
use of marijuana for medical
purposes. 24
• Medicinal Cannabis legalization has
actually led to a significant decline in teen
use rates. A drop of 2% among 8th graders
alone was witnessed, and in total, a 1.8%
drop among all high schoolers. 25
Teen Use
26

Teen Alcohol vs Cannabis
• According to the California Healthy Kids
Survey of 2016, 58% of Sonoma Unified
District’s 11th graders have admitted to
using alcohol at least once in their lifetime.
By contrast, 43% of 11th graders have
admitted to using cannabis for the same
period. 26
• Data exhibits a discernable decline in the
use of cannabis among Sonoma Unified
District’s 11th graders from 2011 – 2016. 27

Sonoma Unified 11th Grade Alcohol/Cannabis Use
(at least once in their lifetime)
28
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2009 - 2010 2011 - 2012 2013 - 2014 2015 - 2016
Cannabis Alcohol
Data: California Healthy Kids Survey
2015-2016
EdgewireMedia.com

Protects Teens
With the passage of SB 94 (MAUCRSA),
hardcore advertising and packaging restrictions
are now in play 28:
• No advertising or marketing cannabis or
cannabis products in a manner intended to
encourage persons under 21 years of age to
consume cannabis or cannabis products
• packages and labels shall not be made to be
attractive to children
• edible cannabis products shall not be designed
to be appealing to children or easily confused
with commercially sold candy or foods that do
not contain cannabis.

Protecting Children
• Packaging shall be designed or constructed to be
significantly difficult for children under five years
of age to open
• All product labels and inserts shall include the
government warning in large, bold font.
• No publishing or disseminating advertising or
marketing that is attractive to children.
30

Protects Children
• No free giveaways of cannabis or cannabis
accessories as part of a business promotion.
• No advertising or marketing on a billboard or
similar advertising device located on an Interstate
Highway or on a State Highway which crosses the
California border
• No advertising or marketing cannabis or cannabis
products on an advertising sign within 1,000 feet
of a day care center, school providing instruction
in kindergarten or any grades 1 through 12,
playground, or youth center.
31

Public Health/Emergency
Room Visits • Discussions with Emergency Room (ER)
nurse supervisors at Sutter, Santa Rosa
Memorial, and Petaluma Valley hospitals
suggest local hospitals are not
experiencing a notable increase in
emergency room visits specifically or
primarily related to cannabis use. 29
• Methamphetamine and opioid abuse are a
far more significant problem with regard to
use of ER resources and immediate,
threatening risks to ER patients. 30

Personal Cultivation of Medicinal
and Recreational Cannabis
The State of California and Sonoma
County both allow for personal indoor
and outdoor cultivation of not more
than 6 plants.
33

Indoor Cultivation
Cities must allow indoor cultivation for
personal use, up to six plants per
residence.
34

Outdoor Cultivation
• The voters of the State of California, and the
County of Sonoma agree that medical patients can
cultivate for their personal use, up to 100 square
feet, and that adult users over 21 can cultivate up
to 6 plants.
• Sun-grown medicine, is the most natural,
affordable, medical quality medicine for patients to
produce for themselves.
• It is not affordable for low-income patients to
purchase equipment for indoor cultivation, pay
high electric bills, or to build a structure that may
require City Permits. We need to keep affordable
options available for medical cannabis patients.
35

Outdoor Cultivation
• Compared to indoor grown cannabis,
sungrown plants typically require less soil
amendments, fertilizers, pesticides and
fungicides, making the outdoor method
much more environmentally friendly.
• The City of Sonoma prides itself in being
green, sustainable, and environmentally
conscious. By forcing cannabis cultivation
indoors, it does not meet these goals,
and increases our county’s Carbon
footprint.

Outdoor Cultivation • In-home cultivation can pose a bigger threat
to public safety because lighting and
ventilation systems can pose fire risks and
other problems, like flooding, mold or other
common by-products of agricultural activity
inside a residence. According to Press
Democrat search results, there have been at
least 7 house fires associated with cannabis
grows in the County in the last 4 years, two of
which occurred in the greater Sonoma area.
• If the city develops reasonable guidelines, a
ban would not be necessary and the much
larger issues of fire and safety would be
resolved.
Firefighters control cannabis related house fire on
Alaska Drive, Santa Rosa – John Burgess/ PD

Outdoor Cultivation
• Violent crime not an issue, as no large
amounts of money are involved in 6 plant
personal gardens.
• According to Prop 64, any outdoor ban will
likely become invalid when the California
Attorney General determines that non-
medical marijuana has become legal under
federal law.

Outdoor Cultivation
• Revenues will be generated statewide through
taxes on cannabis sales and funds will be
distributed “for making grants to local
governments to assist with law enforcement, fire
protection, or other local programs addressing
public health and safety associated with the
implementation of the Control, Regulate and Tax
Adult Use of Marijuana Act.” However, the Board
won’t make grants to local governments which
have banned the cultivation, including personal
cultivation under Section 11362.2(b)(3) of the
Health and Safety Code [outdoors upon the
grounds of a private residence], or retail sale of
marijuana or marijuana products.Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group

Odor
We live in a world of smells that aren’t
always appealing to some. Breweries, coffee
roasteries, auto exhausts are just a few. We
are subjected to the vinegary smell of grapes
clipped from their vines and dropped in the
vineyards along with hay and the lees from
fermentation that are put back into the
vineyards as compost. And of course, there is
the infamous “Sonoma Aroma”. A couple of
times each year, local dairy farmers pump
out their holding ponds to spread cow
manure on their fields. The odor can range
from Petaluma to Sonoma in the east and all
the way north to Healdsburg.

Odor
• Odor can be mitigated through
companion planting of lavender,
jasmine, rosemary, basil and many
other pleasant smelling flowers and
herbs.
• Consider that San Luis Obispo has
resolved this issue through an
ordinance that assumes that any
odor (whether cannabis or not) is
“offensive to individuals of normal
sensitivity” if the city receives three
or more complaints within a month
from separate households or
businesses about a single source of
odor. 31

Water Use, Chemicals
& Pesticides
• Small personal grows inconsequential
• Larger commercial cultivation subject to
strict regulations

Outdoor Cultivation Recommendation
• Allow for personal cultivation of 100 square
feet, and no more than 6 plants, both
outdoors and in greenhouses without a
cannabis cultivation permit in accordance
with State medical cannabis laws.

State vs. Federal Law
• There has been no evidence that other cities
have been held liable under federal law for
permitting cannabis activates otherwise
legal under state law. 32
• Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment blocks the
Department of Justice from spending money
on medical marijuana prosecutions. A U.S.
District Court judge recently cited the
amendment as the basis for blocking federal
prosecutions of cannabis growers in
California. 33

State vs. Federal Law • The Cole memo precluded the use of
federal resources against states, cities and
individuals who are in clear compliance
with existing laws providing for the medical
use of cannabis. The current administration
has assured it will abandon Justice
Department efforts to target recreational
marijuana in states that have legalized
adult use.34
• In City of Palm Springs v. Luna Crest, Inc.
(Cal. Ct. App. March 17, 2016) 2016 WL
1056700, the court of appeal concluded the
Controlled Substance Act did not preempt a
local ordinance that allowed a certain
number of dispensaries to operate subject
to a local permit.

Tax Revenue
• Cities that want a cannabis-related revenue
stream should enact a tax in compliance
with Propositions 26 and 218 (Sales tax on
medical cannabis prohibited).
• Advantages:
• Locals will have exclusive control over this
revenue
• Revenue from local tax measures will not
sunset, but state grants will
• Allowing both means more revenue
• Marijuana taxes boost the economy and
help school funding

Tax Revenue The Board of State and Community Corrections
will make grants to local governments to assist
with law enforcement, fire protection, or other
local programs addressing public health and
safety associated with the implementation of
the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of
Marijuana Act. The board shall not make any
grants to local governments which have
banned the cultivation, including personal
cultivation under paragraph (3) of subdivision
(b) of Section 11362.2 of the Health and Safety
Code, or retail sale of cannabis or cannabis
products pursuant to Section 26200 of the
Business and Professions Code or as otherwise
provided by law.

Loss of Grant Funds
Section 34019 (f) C of the Revenue and
Taxation Code authorizes state grants to local
governments to assist with law enforcement,
fire protections, or other public health and
safety programs associated with implementing
Prop 64.
However, local governments stand to lose grant
funding under Section 34019 (f) 3(C) if they
prohibit retail sales or cultivation, including
outdoor personal use cultivation.

Manufacturing Edibles
• manufacturing, distribution, labs are
tax revenue creators and have little
impact on the community

Reference List
1 “Medical Cannabis Dispensing Collectives and Local Regulations,” Americans For Safe Access, 2011.
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/asa_ca_dispensary_report
2 Powell, D., et al. (2015), “Do Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Addictions and Deaths Related to Pain Killers?,” National Bureau of Economic Research.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w21345
3 “LAPD Chief: Pot clinics not plagued by crime,” Los Angeles Daily News, January 17, 2010.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14206441
4 Ibid.
5 “Marijuana shops not magnets for crime, police say,” Fort Collins Gazette, September 14, 2010.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/wall-104598-marijuanabrassfield.html
6 Community Impact Research, Metro State University. “Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado,” presented June 2015.
https://www.crcr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Cannabis-Business-and-Neigborhood-Crime_080616.pdf
7 E. M. Shepard, P. R. Blackley. “Medical Marijuana and Crime: Further Evidence From the Western States,” Journal of Drug Issues. Forthcoming April 2016.
https://www.crcr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cannabis-Business-and-Neigborhood-Crime_041216.pdf

Reference List, cont.
8 City of Petaluma (Brown) ,”Policy Direction on Local Cannabis Regulation,” Page 3-4, October 2, 2017.
http://petaluma.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=31&clip_id=2402&meta_id=381773
9 Wallace, Alicia (2017, Apr 27), “New federal bill would allow banking for marijuana businesses,” The Cannabist.
http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/04/27/federal-marijuana-banking-bill-congress-perlmutter/78531/
10 Black, L. ( 2017, April 19). “The Credit Unions and Small Banks That Solved the Cannabis Cash Crisis,” The Stranger.
http://www.thestranger.com/green-guide-spring-2017/2017/04/19/25083313/the-credit-unions-and-small-banks-that-solved-the-cannabis-cash-crisis
11 Ayinehsazian, Sahar (Oct 24,2017). “Could A Public Bank Solve California’s Cannabis Cash Conundrum?” mgRetailer.
https://mgretailer.com/could-a-public-bank-solve-californias-cannabis-cash-conundrum/
12 Koren, James Rufus (July 27,2017). “Should California start its own bank to serve marijuana companies?” Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-public-bank-marijuana-20170727-htmlstory.html
13 Koren, James Rufus (July 7, 2017). “Why some pot businesses hide their cash — and others truck it straight to a federal vault.” Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cannabis-banking-20170707-story.html

14 Black, L. ( 2017, April 19). “The Credit Unions and Small Banks That Solved the Cannabis Cash Crisis,” The Stranger.
http://www.thestranger.com/green-guide-spring-2017/2017/04/19/25083313/the-credit-unions-and-small-banks-that-solved-the-cannabis-cash-crisis
15 Ibid.
16 Koren, James Rufus (July 7, 2017). “Why some pot businesses hide their cash — and others truck it straight to a federal vault.” Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cannabis-banking-20170707-story.html
17 Ingraham, Christopher (January 11, 2017). “Survey: Two-thirds of cops say marijuana laws should be relaxed,” The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/11/survey-two-thirds-of-cops-say-marijuana-laws-should-be-relaxed/?utm_term=.a06b5ceee9a6
18 Santaella-Tenorio, J, et al. “US Traffic Fatalities, 1985-2014, and Their Relationship to Medical Marijuana Laws,” Am J Public Health. February 2017.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577?journalCode=ajph
19 Ibid.
20 Aydelotte, Jayson D., etal. “Crash Fatality Rates After Recreational Marijuana Legalization in Washington and Colorado,” Am J Public Health. February 2017.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303848

21 Dills, Angela, et al., “Dose of Reality: The Effect of State Marijuana Legalizations,” Cato Institute, September 16, 2016.
https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/dose-reality-effect-state-marijuana-legalizations
22 Anderson, D. Mark , et al., “Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption,” The Journal of Law & Economics, May 2013.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/668812
23 California Criminal Justice Statistics Center (2015), YouthFacts, July 2015.
https://www.youthfacts.org/?page_id=75500
24 Hasin, D., et al., “Medical marijuana laws and adolescent marijuana use in the USA from 1991 to 2014: results from annual, repeated cross-sectional surveys,”
Lancet , July 2015.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00217-5/abstract
25 Ibid.
26 California Healthy Kids Survey, “Sonoma Valley Unified Secondary 2015-2016 Main Report”, Page 26, prepared by WestEd, 2016.
http://surveydata.wested.org/resources/Sonoma_Valley_Unified_1516_Sec_CHKS.pdf
27 Ibid.

28 “SB-94 Cannabis: medicinal and adult use,” California State Legislature, June 27, 2017.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB94
29 City of Petaluma (Brown), “Policy Direction on Local Cannabis Regulation,” Page 8, October 2, 2017.
30 Ibid.
31 San Luis Obispo Municipal Code, Chapter 8.22, OFFENSIVE ODORS, 2015.
http://www.codepublishing.com/CA/SanLuisObispo/html/SanLuisObispo08/SanLuisObispo0822.html
32 City of Petaluma (Brown) ,”Policy Direction on Local Cannabis Regulation,” Page 7, October 2, 2017.
33 Ibid.
34 “Trump, Gardner strike deal on legalized marijuana, ending standoff over Justice nominees”, April 13, 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-gardner-strike-deal-on-legalized-marijuana-ending-standoff-over-justice-nominees/2018/04/13/2ac3b35a-3f3a-
11e8-912d-16c9e9b37800_story.html?utm_term=.53da380d7842

Contact Information
Ken Brown
Bear Flag Social Club
Ken@BearFlagSocialClub.com
Cell 707-938-8623
Gil Latimer
EdgewireMedia/Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
Gil@EdgewireMedia.com

Sonoma Compassionate Cannabis Policy

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