FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Francis
Tel: (858) 320-7512

October 28, 2009: SAN DIEGO – San Diego residents support local access to medical marijuana, but they demand tough new regulations on how it is distributed to patients. That is the stark finding of a survey
released today by San Diego-based KeepComingBack.com, an online resource for people with substance abuse and addiction problems, and their friends and family.

The KeepComingBack.com poll, which surveyed 505 adults in the City of San Diego, found steady support for medical marijuana access. More than two-thirds of respondents (69%) believe that medical marijuana should be considered as any other prescription drug available to the public, and 77% of respondents either “agree strongly” or “agree somewhat” that government officials should provide local cannabis patients with convenient medical access. However, there is little tolerance for unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries. When asked how the City of San Diego should approach dispensaries, 64% of respondents wanted dispensaries to be regulated, with the greatest support for strict control with heavy regulations.

The survey also found that a strong majority of San Diegans are in favor of prohibiting dispensaries from operating within residential neighborhoods (64%), requiring dispensaries from staying at least one thousand feet away from schools and youth facilities (83%), as well as fingerprinting and criminal background checks for dispensary employees and managers (87%).

Furthermore, San Diegans do not want more marijuana dispensaries than the City can afford to regulate; nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) oppose increasing the number of existing dispensaries if additional law enforcement resources are need to keep them safe and compliant with city laws. Poll respondents were also supportive of requiring all dispensaries to be not-for-profit (63%).

“This poll delivers a clear message to City Hall: San Diego residents want medical marijuana dispensaries to follow tough rules that will keep their neighborhoods safe,” remarked Steve Francis, former San Diego mayoral candidate and co-founder of KeepComingBack.com. “Elected officials should heed the voice of the public, and approve stringent land use and zoning regulations without delay.” Steve Francis will be presenting the full poll results to the San Diego City Council’s Medical Marijuana Task Force on Friday, October 30, 2009.

The poll also revealed new findings on marijuana use in San Diego. Overall, 45% of survey respondents stated they have used marijuana in the past, and 41% have a friend or family member who uses marijuana. Of the 28% of respondents who reported using marijuana within the past twelve months, more than half (57%) said they do not use it for medical purposes.

“This poll finds that substance abuse is pervasive in San Diego, and it should serve as a call to action to address the disease of addiction in our community,” said Gayle Francis, founder and CEO of KeepComingBack.com. “Too few drug users are in twelve-step programs or recovery centers. More public awareness is needed to expose the dangers of marijuana use.”

The poll, which was conducted by Competitive Edge Research & Communication (CERC) from October 14-17th, has a sampling error of +/- 4.4%.

The complete poll with analysis can be found at KeepComingBack.com’s website at www.keepcomingback.com.

About KeepComingBack.com: KeepComingBack.com is committed to providing the latest breaking news, interviews and research about addiction and recovery from alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders, compulsive gambling, smoking and obesity.

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