In an unexpected move, two members of the Los Angeles City Council rightfully stood up against the new City Attorney, Carmen Trutanich, and his attempt to eliminates medicinal marijuana sales in L.A. despite the citizens' desire for them to stay legal.
The City Council members voted after a hearing about the proposal, which "neighborhood activists" supported and medicinal marijuana providers and patients opposed.
The ban would have probably put Los Angeles' estimated thousand of dispensaries out of business with the threat of criminal prosecution. Thankfully, two City Council members were willing to thwart the City Attorney's attempt to make medicinal marijuana sales illegal in L.A..
The ban also would have created even more unemployed citizens in the place of medicinal marijuana providers, and patients would have been forced to venture outside the city's limits to obtain the medicine that they need..
Los Angeles citizens should be proud that their elected representatives are willing to stand up to the City Attorney's attempt to vanquish medicinal marijuana in spite of the citizens' obvious desire for dispensaries to continue to operate legally.
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
In rebuff to city attorney, council committees support pot dispensaries
Two Los Angeles City Council committees rejected the advice of the city attorney and voted Monday to approve an ordinance that allows marijuana dispensaries to continue to sell the drug to people with a doctor's recommendation.
The city attorney's office has maintained for a year and a half that Los Angeles has no choice but to ban sales because state law and court decisions are clear that collectives can only cultivate marijuana. That opinion had stalled the council's deliberations because dispensary operators insisted it would force them to close.
Four hours into a raucous hearing, frustrated council members decided to replace the provision with one that authorizes cash contributions as long as they comply with state law, which prohibits collectives from making a profit.
"When can we finally stop the merry-go-round?" said Councilman Dennis Zine, who urged his colleagues to discard the city attorney's version. "We're going to come back with another version and another version, and it's going to be 2010, and then 2011 and 2015, and we'll be dead by then and we won't accomplish anything."
The decision broke the major deadlock on the contentious issue. The planning and Public Safety committees sent the draft ordinance to the full council, which is likely to consider it Wednesday.
"We need something on the books now. There is no reason why we should delay," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who has overseen the council's effort to write an ordinance.
Don Duncan, a Los Angeles resident who is the California director of Americans for Safe Access, said he believed the decision would resolve one of the last obstacles. "It sounded like they were going to let a patient walk in and reimburse a collective for their medicine. We can live with that," he said.
The council's action came after a judge ruled last month that the city's 2007 moratorium on new dispensaries was illegally extended, which essentially left the city with no rules that it could rely on to shut down the hundreds of stores that have opened in the last two years.
Some council members responded favorably to the city attorney's suggestion to consider capping the number of dispensaries. Councilman Jose Huizar proposed a cap of 70, allowing two in each of the 35 community plan areas.
"Hopefully, that will allow us to control for the over-concentration," he said.
Almost 400 people crowded into the main council chamber and about 70 spoke, most testifying passionately about the medical value of marijuana and the role dispensaries play. If the council members decide to ban sales, said Degé Coutee, who runs the Patient Advocacy Network, "You will create a black market overnight. You will turn good citizens into criminals overnight. And you will get the city involved in costly litigation for years to come."
The city attorney's office has maintained for a year and a half that Los Angeles has no choice but to ban sales because state law and court decisions are clear that collectives can only cultivate marijuana. That opinion had stalled the council's deliberations because dispensary operators insisted it would force them to close.
Four hours into a raucous hearing, frustrated council members decided to replace the provision with one that authorizes cash contributions as long as they comply with state law, which prohibits collectives from making a profit.
"When can we finally stop the merry-go-round?" said Councilman Dennis Zine, who urged his colleagues to discard the city attorney's version. "We're going to come back with another version and another version, and it's going to be 2010, and then 2011 and 2015, and we'll be dead by then and we won't accomplish anything."
The decision broke the major deadlock on the contentious issue. The planning and Public Safety committees sent the draft ordinance to the full council, which is likely to consider it Wednesday.
"We need something on the books now. There is no reason why we should delay," said Councilman Ed Reyes, who has overseen the council's effort to write an ordinance.
Don Duncan, a Los Angeles resident who is the California director of Americans for Safe Access, said he believed the decision would resolve one of the last obstacles. "It sounded like they were going to let a patient walk in and reimburse a collective for their medicine. We can live with that," he said.
The council's action came after a judge ruled last month that the city's 2007 moratorium on new dispensaries was illegally extended, which essentially left the city with no rules that it could rely on to shut down the hundreds of stores that have opened in the last two years.
Some council members responded favorably to the city attorney's suggestion to consider capping the number of dispensaries. Councilman Jose Huizar proposed a cap of 70, allowing two in each of the 35 community plan areas.
"Hopefully, that will allow us to control for the over-concentration," he said.
Almost 400 people crowded into the main council chamber and about 70 spoke, most testifying passionately about the medical value of marijuana and the role dispensaries play. If the council members decide to ban sales, said Degé Coutee, who runs the Patient Advocacy Network, "You will create a black market overnight. You will turn good citizens into criminals overnight. And you will get the city involved in costly litigation for years to come."
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