Over the objections of a single resident during open public comment, Tuesday the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to enact an interim urgency ordinance to prohibit establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries in the county.

After District 3 Supervisor Janet Bibby explained to a sparse audience that “the existing County zoning regulations don’t provide for dispensaries,” she went on to say that the action in no way is taking away individual use, as long as those individuals comply with the law and the intent of California’s “Compassionate Use Act.”

Bibby spelled out the board’s primary motivation in rushing the ordinance. She sited the fact that “the County encourages small, home-based businesses,” which can have up to five employees. However, without regulations specific to marijuana dispensaries, they could be established as a home enterprise business in any area of the county, including adjacent to schools and day care operations.

The temporary ordinance is in effect for 45 days from passage

and can be extended.

District 5 Supervisor Jim Allen concurred and said that the ordinance was crafted with input from the sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices. Allen also expounded on the excessive abuse that exists in the current system, and said, “crime statistics show that dispensaries can increase crime in a given area.” Allen is also the former sheriff.

Board chairman, District 4 Supervisor Kevin Cann, echoed that the County is “without sufficient regulations to address dispensaries,” and passage of the ordinance would provide the County time to come up with regulations to deal with this issue here.

During public comment, Mariposa resident Florence Bryce challenged Allen to produce statistics that illustrated any increase in crime with relation to dispensaries, saying she had done a Google search and couldn’t locate any.

Bryce also implored the board to consider the hardship the ordinance would place on patients who are physically unable to raise their own marijuana. “There are people who depend on this drug,” Bryce said. She also ask the board to deal with the issue responsibly and compassionately, and to not give credibility to “some medieval belief that this is always bad.”

Sheriff Brian Muller addressed the board from the podium and stressed the importance of the item’s passage due to “its impact from the public safety aspect.”

Muller explained that to date there are 120 counties and cities that have banned dispensaries, and added “it’s a far greater task to shut down these dispensaries after they have been established.”

The sheriff offered some sobering crime statistics from Los Angeles County and San Francisco, where dispensaries have proliferated. Muller’s details listed a 200 percent increase in robbery, a 130 percent jump in vehicle burglary, a 52 percent rise in burglary, and a 57 percent escalation of aggravated assault in LA neighborhoods where dispensaries were located. The statistics from San Francisco were similar.

Muller also explained that just last week the California Supreme Court struck down the possession limits established by the legislature, and reestablished that ceiling to levels prescribed by the physician, regardless of the amount. He also cited the reported negative impacts on surrounding businesses.

Allen moved to adopt the ordinance, and Bibby seconded that action. The vote was unanimous.

In a related action, the board voted to designate the Mariposa County Health Department as the agency tasked with issuing medical marijuana identification cards.

County Health Officer, Dr. Charles Mosher, explained to the board that obtaining a card is purely voluntary, not mandatory, but that state law mandates each county have the ability to issue the cards, which are viable for 12 months.

Mosher doesn’t anticipate a rush of users seeking the cards, since there will be a $213 processing fee by the health department on top of fees charged by the state.

District 2 Supervisor Lyle Turpin took issue with the dollar amount. Turpin believes the fee will prohibit some patients from securing the cards, and he added, more than once, “We need to know who these people are.”

Mosher countered with an explanation that the fee is merely to cover his department’s processing costs, and “that in fairness to the taxpayers” this is an expense that should be covered.

The board unanimously approved designating the health department as the administrating agency, and upheld the $213 fee.

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