The days are numbered for Fresno County's medical marijuana dispensaries, which under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors must shut down by March.

The new law, approved by a 4-1 vote of the board, seeks to curtail what has become a flourishing and some would say problematic trade of medicinal pot across the county. Busy dispensaries have sprung up in Tarpey Village, Fig Garden, Friant and Malaga, and neighbors are complaining of petty crime, traffic and noise.

The ordinance also takes cultivation of medical marijuana off the table, banning all marijuana gardens -- including at homes -- with the exception of grows in some industrial parts of the county. Advocates of the drug, though, say the restrictions in the industrial areas will make cultivation next to impossible.

In a chamber packed with marijuana supporters Tuesday afternoon, county supervisors left the door open to future changes to the regulation that could allow personal cultivation of the drug. Still, as written, the ordinance takes effect with the prohibitions in place next month.

"We have to start someplace," said Supervisor Debbie Poochigian. "I think someone should be able to grow their own in their backyard whether it's two plants or four plants ... This does not address that, I know. But I think we have to take a first step."

Attorneys representing the medical marijuana community said Tuesday they can't count on changes to the ordinance and pledged to proceed with a lawsuit. They claim the county is legally bound to allow the drug to be grown and dispensed to the sick.

"They'll drive us out and think we won't sue," said Brenda Linder, who represents four of the roughly 15 dispensaries currently in operation. "We cannot take away patients' rights that are given under state law."

Owners of dispensaries, who have six months to close after the law kicks in, also are planning to collect signatures for a ballot measure to repeal the ordinance.

Users of medical pot, meanwhile, are trying to figure out their next step.

"There really is a need for some people," said Constance Ott, who uses marijuana to treat arthritis and pain from knee and shoulder replacements. "We'd have to go out of the area to get medication, and the cost ... My husband and I are living on a fixed income with a limited pension."

Ott said she and her husband grow about 50 plants at her Miramonte home at nominal expense.

"We have been able to eliminate all of the other medications that are prescribed to us by doctors," she said.

Her husband Dan also praised the benefits of their crop.

"When I rodeoed, I wore hemp shirts that lasted me almost 10 years. There is a definite use for this product in all respects," he said.

The perks of marijuana, however, haven't come without problems, as a handful attested to Tuesday.

"For us, it's a safety issue. It's not a medical issue," said Louise Yenovkian, who said that her Fig Garden neighborhood has seen a threefold jump in crime since a marijuana dispensary set up shop near her home.

Members of a PTA in Centerville similarly said a dispensary recently opening 800 feet from a school was inappropriate. A Malaga man said he was tired of seeing dispensaries move into his community.

The only vote against the new regulations Tuesday came from Supervisor Susan Anderson, who said the law, as crafted, would not work.

"It's going to push growing marijuana into the national forests. It will push selling to the drug cartels," she said. "I know that's not the intent or desire of this ordinance, but that's the reality."

Anderson also worried that enforcement of the law, which is left primarily to county planners, will be insufficient, and marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to stay open with little punishment.

Dispensaries that choose not to shut down, under the ordinance, get a courtesy notice, then a notice of violation, then an administrative citation. It takes those three steps before the matter is referred to the legal system -- but even then county officials need approval by the Board of Supervisors before they seek a court order to close.

Under the ordinance, the parts of the county where marijuana can be cultivated legally include Malaga, along Highway 99, west Fresno County near Tranquillity and San Joaquin and outside Coalinga.

The restrictions for marijuana gardens are tight, limiting cultivation to indoors, requiring security and putting caps on the size of the harvest.

The Sheriff's Office has vowed to strictly enforce the cultivation regulations.

The cities of Selma and Fowler, though, have criticized the ordinance for allowing cultivation too close to their borders. Both cities prohibit growing and distributing medical marijuana within city limits.

As part of the board's pledge to revisit the ordinance, supervisors said Tuesday they will add amendments requiring the county to coordinate with city leaders on licensing of nearby growing operations.

A working group that is expected to form this month will review the ordinance and look at ways to better accommodate distribution of marijuana and personal cultivation, supervisors said.