California city to get official marijuana dispensary

SAN FRANCISCO - Santa Cruz, a California city famous for its surfing beaches and a boardwalk amusement park, has approved a new service for its citizens: an official marijuana dispensary.

In a four to two vote, the city council backed a plan to create an Office of Compassionate Use to provide medical marijuana patients access to the drug.

Vice Mayor Cynthia Mathews, who opposed the measure, said it would likely be years before such a city office - which would be the first of its kind in the United States (US) - would open as local officials are seeking definitive court guidance before starting up the business.

"This is more a legal manoeuvring than anything," she said, adding the case could go all the way to the US Supreme Court before clear guidance is available.

Mayor Mike Rotkin, who supported the move, estimated that more than 1,000 of Santa Cruz's 56,000 residents might one day make use of a new medical marijuana office to treat pain from chemotherapy and disease - but not any time soon.

- REUTERS