About Medical Marijuana

City Council Members Visit LA Collective

Council Members Zine and Reyes with ASA and GLACA representatives

City Councilmembers Dennis Zine and Ed Reyes visited Purelife Alternative, a medical cannabis dispensing collective in Los Angeles, on April 20 as part of the city’s ongoing effort to adopt an ordinance regulating facilities in that city. Medical cannabis advocates hope the visit will help the Councilmembers and city staff craft sensible regulations for collectives in the city before a moratorium on new facilities expires on September 14.

The visit is a strategic victory for medical cannabis advocates in Los Angeles. The Councilmembers’ first hand look at the operations of a legal collective served to dispel many preconceptions and clearly demonstrate how access to medicine can be safe and orderly. Representatives from Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the Greater Los Angeles Caregivers Alliance (GLACA) talked with the Councilmembers and city staff about preventing diversion, verifying members, security, and quality control.

Councilmember Reyes is the Chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM), which heard testimony critical of a draft ordinance prepared by the City Attorney’s office in February. The City Attorney’s draft ordinance treats all sales of medical cannabis as illegal and would require storefront collectives in Los Angeles to close. Advocates have joined Councilmember Zine in rejecting the City Attorney’s ordinance and calling on the PLUM committee to request a new version incorporating input from the city’s defunct medical cannabis working group.

Progress on adopting a permanent ordinance has been slow in Los Angeles, but there is growing pressure from neighborhood groups to stop the proliferation of new facilities in the city. More than 200 new collectives have opened in Los Angeles since the city adopted an Interim Control Ordinance establishing a moratorium on new locations in 2007. Advocates hope the City Council visit will serve to expedite the permanent ordinance, because research shows that regulating collectives reduces crime and complaints in neighborhoods.

Tags: Americans for Safe Access, city attorney, collectives, community complaints, dennis zine, draft ordinance, medical cannabis, working group