Amador County – Last week, Ione unanimously took steps toward banning the sale of marijuana in the city. The Ione City Council passed a 45-day ordinance placing a moratorium on the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries in its city limits, but also directed staff to work on an ordinance that will permanently ban the dispensaries in Ione. Councilman Lee Ard said Friday that Ione, like the rest of the municipalities in the county, is awaiting a California Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to an Anaheim municipal law that bans medical pot dispensaries. “If we can’t legally ban it, then we would have to go back and revisit” the ordinance, Ard said. “There’s been no discussion in Jackson, Sutter Creek or Plymouth, beyond the 45-day moratorium,” Ard said, but “we’re working very hard to become the first drug-free city in Amador County.” The council voted 5-0 to direct staff work on the ordinance. If the Anaheim case is overturned then they will have to go back and revisit it. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the decision is expected in a couple of months. Ard said: “In Ione, we support our police department, and we know what they are trying to do.” He said the city has several churches, and “all of our citizens go to those churches and we’ve always known that it was not a very popular subject.” He said “it was an easy decision for the council and there was no controversy.” The council knows the people in Ione will not support a medicinal marijuana dispensary. Ard said the council and the people see the Ione Police Chief and officials go to Mule Creek with the IPD drug dog, Hawk. They visit “randomly over the course of the month,” as the warden calls them, and “they make drug arrests of people trying to smuggle drugs into the prison” just about every time they go. A couple of months ago, they arrested a prison guard who lived in Ione. The IPD has also arrested dozens of people in recent months attempting to smuggle various kinds of drugs into the prison, in an ongoing sting operation run by a joint group of law enforcement departments, including the Ione Police Department, Mule Creek’s security, and other police forces. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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Amador County – Last week, Ione unanimously took steps toward banning the sale of marijuana in the city. The Ione City Council passed a 45-day ordinance placing a moratorium on the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries in its city limits, but also directed staff to work on an ordinance that will permanently ban the dispensaries in Ione. Councilman Lee Ard said Friday that Ione, like the rest of the municipalities in the county, is awaiting a California Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to an Anaheim municipal law that bans medical pot dispensaries. “If we can’t legally ban it, then we would have to go back and revisit” the ordinance, Ard said. “There’s been no discussion in Jackson, Sutter Creek or Plymouth, beyond the 45-day moratorium,” Ard said, but “we’re working very hard to become the first drug-free city in Amador County.” The council voted 5-0 to direct staff work on the ordinance. If the Anaheim case is overturned then they will have to go back and revisit it. City Attorney Kristen Castanos said the decision is expected in a couple of months. Ard said: “In Ione, we support our police department, and we know what they are trying to do.” He said the city has several churches, and “all of our citizens go to those churches and we’ve always known that it was not a very popular subject.” He said “it was an easy decision for the council and there was no controversy.” The council knows the people in Ione will not support a medicinal marijuana dispensary. Ard said the council and the people see the Ione Police Chief and officials go to Mule Creek with the IPD drug dog, Hawk. They visit “randomly over the course of the month,” as the warden calls them, and “they make drug arrests of people trying to smuggle drugs into the prison” just about every time they go. A couple of months ago, they arrested a prison guard who lived in Ione. The IPD has also arrested dozens of people in recent months attempting to smuggle various kinds of drugs into the prison, in an ongoing sting operation run by a joint group of law enforcement departments, including the Ione Police Department, Mule Creek’s security, and other police forces. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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