From Nick Osbourne - re: Los Banos:

I just got back from the meeting in LB.The LB police commander began, he
first talked about the Federal and State conflict. He said it could lead
the department into a difficult situation. He then went on to say that
Modesto had a dispensary close, stating that an officer in Modesto had
spoken with the owner of the dispensary that closed on its own. Supposeldy
the owner of that dispensary (no name given on the owner or dispensary), o
told the officer,the shop was closing because a theft and that the
dispensaries are to easily abused. The commander went to say that LB
police recently arrested some high school student who were attempting to
sell marijuana at the high school.
The commander stated that the marijuana found on the students had
dispensary labels on the bags (no name of the supposed dispensary was
mentioned). The commander went on to say that banning dispensaries in LB
would not effect the patients in the city, as there is currently no
dispensary in LB anyway, nor had anyone inquired about opening one. The
commander then expressed that this banning will continue to other cites in
Merced County. He specifically mentioned that Dos Palos was the next city,
and the other cities are already preparing to impose the ban on
dispensaries. He then reccommended the ban.

The Commission said that Turlock, Modesto and Merced all have moratoriums,
and that they didn't feel like being the first city to " take the lead on
allowing dispensaries". Eventually the commission stated that because
there was a moratorium in the city and county of Merced, and because there
are no guidelines for Merced County, they think its best to impose the
ban.

So it appears that there is a plan to shut down any opportunity for a
dispensary in Merced County. I was told by the media that there may be
another meeting regarding this issue in the next week or so (this is not
confirmed), but I will try to find out.

Personally it seemed that the real issue was the City of Los Banos, not
wanting to be the first city in the county to move towards regulating.

Well thats what it is, and it aint good.
(pleas forgive the grammer, I am so tired at the moment)

Thanks,
Nick Osborne
Merced County Patients Coalition
209-261-5758
Nick@MercCountyPC.com
Nick@Compassionatecoalition.org