Lake Elsinore City Council extends medical marijuana moratorium 10 months

Marijuana manufacturing operations looking to begin in Lake Elsinore will have to wait close to one year before considering to set-up shop, the city council decided Tuesday.

The council voted unanimously to extend a 45-day moratorium on marijuana manufacturing activities for an additional 10 months and 15 days, continuing the prohibition of medical marijuana productions to allow council sufficient time to study legal developments.

Before the council’s decision, Elsinore High School senior Mackenzie Gordon addressed the council with concerns if  proponents of medical marijuana manufacturing were allowed within city limits.

While not a user, Mackenzie said, she has seen the damaging affects it has at the school and on her friends.

Mackenzie said too many  of her peers are already deeply rooted into using marijuana and if it were to become available at dispensaries, many teenagers even younger than her, will have the drug readily available more so than it now is and it will increase the usage at schools.

“They get it easy now,” she told the council. “They are using it at school. When teachers aren’t looking … they find ways. I don’t know how. They are rolling it out in front of everyone.

“They know nothing can stop them,” Mackenzie continued. “They do it [smoke marijuana] as a joke, they don’t care. I feel you should not promote this, especially where you have kids looking up to people.”

Lake Elsinore resident Tony Barnes addressed the council and said he too opposes having marijuana available in the city.

“If they want to buy drugs, let them do it another city,” Barnes said. “I know the affects drugs have on kids and adults. What’s going to be legal next?”

Since there are discrepancies in federal and state law regarding the drug, city reports said,  “staff believes that further study of dispensary regulation is necessary, to help ensure that marijuana manufacturing activities are regulated in a way that protects the community and complies with the applicable law.”

On Monday, medical marijuana backers gathered at the Cultural Center for a town hall meeting hosted by Wildomar resident Wayne Williams, who heads We The People, a local pro-cannabis organization.

Several guest speakers including doctors and law enforcement spoke in favor of bringing dispensaries to the city Monday, and backers like Williams, said before the council that he was disappointed to not see any Lake Elsinore council members attend the meeting.

I went to great expenses to bring in the speakers to help council understand the issue,” Williams said to the council. “It was disappointing to see that none of you were there.”

Mayor Melissa Melendez said she did advise Williams she would not be attending the Monday town hall meeting due to previous engagements.

“I can assure you Mr. Williams that I am quite educated on the topic, and this decision isn’t an ideology,” Melendez said. “This is about the law and making sure we are going down the right path.

Yazmin Alvarez can be reached at yazmin.alvarez@swrnn.com. You can follow her @SWRNNgov on Twitter!

Toni McAllister is SWRNN’s lifestyles editor. She can be reached at toni.mcallister@yahoo.com.

Tags: elsinore high school, Lake Elsinore, lake elsinore city council, Lake Elsinore Cultural Center, Lake Elsinore Mayor Melissa Melendez, Makenzie Gordon, medical marijuana, SWRNN, Toni McAllister, Tony Barnes, Wayne Williams, We the People, Yazmin Alvarez

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