Friday, July 3rd, 2009
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) won another important victory for medical cannabis patients this week! In County of Butte v. Superior Court (download decision), the Third District Court of Appeal upheld patients’ right to collective cultivation. The ruling puts California cities and counties on notice that they may face civil litigation for abridging patients’ rights. It also upholds the District Court finding that not every member of a collective garden must physically participate in growing the medicine.
County of Butte v. Superior Court “upholds Butte County Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts’ ruling from September 2007, in which she states that seriously ill patients cultivating collectively ’should not be required to risk criminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal trial in order to assert their rights.’ Judge Roberts’ ruling also rejected Butte County’s policy of requiring all members to physically participate in the cultivation, thereby allowing collective members to ‘contribute financially’.” (quoted from ASA) This has positive implications for defendants and regulations statewide!
Read more about the Butte County decision on the ASA web site.
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
The Los Angeles City Council quickly denied fourteen hardship applications today for medical cannabis collectives that opened or relocated since the city adopted a moratorium on new facilities in September of 2007. Observers expected a hard line from Councilmembers, who have come under increasing pressure from neighborhood groups and media in light of the proliferation and clustering of new collectives under the moratorium.
I joined five Councilmembers at a press conference before the meeting, where they reiterated their commitment to protecting safe access and enforcing local law. Councilmembers Zine, Hahn, Huizar, Reyes, and Garcetti all answered pointed questions from media and promised an aggressive response to the neighborhood concerns. Councilmember Zine also acknowledged the work of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) by name, thanking them for diligent work in promoting sensible regulations.
The City Council later approved a motion by Councilmember Huizar to remove the controversial hardship provision, and surprised advocates by extending the city’s moratorium on new facilities for another six months. The provisions will take effect when the City Council votes on a new ordinance next week. Councilmember Huizar said that staff needs more time to craft permanent regulations. City staff reassured concerned advocates that the extension was legal – despite the fact that it exceeds the usual two-year limit for urgency ordinances.
Observers were surprised to hear strong words of support for medical cannabis and cannabis law reform from Councilmember Alarcon, who has so far been silent on the topic. Councilmembers Zine, Rosendahl, Huizar, Reyes, LaBonge, and Hahn also rose in vigorous support of medical cannabis – and all worried aloud about abuse of the system. Councilmember-elect Paul Koretz will replace outgoing Councilmember Weiss, an opponent of safe access, as a solid pro-access vote in July. The growing cadre of medical cannabis supporters on the City Council means sensible regulations are almost certain to be adopted (when they are finally finished). Only Councilmembers Smith and Parks rose today to oppose the Council’s pro-medical cannabis agenda.
Hardship applicants would fare no better in hearings before the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee later this afternoon. The committee denied one application after cursory testimony. Chairman Reyes continued a second hearing so that Councilmember Rosendahl’s office could confirm the applicant’s claim that the collective was not already open, and therefore, not in violation of the moratorium.
Today’s press conference and 15-0 scorecard make it clear that the City Council and PLUM Committee sent a message to hundreds of hardship applicants awaiting hearings. The rapid proliferation and anecdotal reports of bad behavior have generated a backlash against which applicants must fight. For most, the outcome is likely to be bad. This is especially unfortunate for the unknown number of collectives that registered with the City Clerk before the moratorium, but later relocated as a result of federal intimidation.
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Saturday, June 6th, 2009
The Los Angeles City Council will take up fourteen hardship applications for medical cannabis collectives in Eagle Rock and Highland Park on Tuesday morning. These are the first of approximately five hundred hardship applications filed for medical cannabis facilities that opened or relocated after the City Council adopted a moratorium on new collectives on September 14, 2007. Increasing pressure from neighborhood groups and bad media coverage have embarrassed the City Council in recent weeks, and observers expect all or most of the applications will be denied. The City Council will also vote on a motion by Councilmember Huizar to remove the hardship provision from the city’s moratorium. If approved, the motion will prevent any new hardship applications.
Later on Tuesday, the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee will discuss permanent regulations, which the City Council plans to adopt before the moratorium expires September. Medical cannabis advocates joined City Councilmember Dennis Zine earlier this year in rejecting a draft ordinance prepared by outgoing City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. That misguided measure regarded collectives as illegal and would have forced every facility in Los Angeles to close. The PLUM Committee is expected to send recommendations for improved regulations to the full City Council on Tuesday. The Council will then forward the recommendations, including any amendments, to the City Attorney’s office with instructions to write a new ordinance.
An alphabet soup of advocacy organizations has been working with Councilmembers and city staff for over a year to craft the permanent regulations – Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA), Patients Advocacy Network (PAN). These groups join other local players, including patients, law enforcement, and neighborhood groups. The final phase of writing the ordinance will be controversial, as various interests compete to shape the next draft. Expect differing strategies and priorities.
There is likely to be something in the draft ordinance to which every stakeholder objects. Ultimately, every measure must be evaluated based on its benefit or harm to legal patients. It will be even more important now that every medical cannabis supporter in Los Angeles stay plugged in and let Councilmembers know which provisions help facilitate access to medicine – and which will roll back patients’ rights.
The City Council meets at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, June 9, in Room 340, City Hall, 200 North Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Arrive early to complete a public speaker’s card. The PLUM Committee meets at 2:00 PM just across the rotunda in Room 350.
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Thursday, June 4th, 2009
The City of Goleta in Santa Barbara County adopted a ban on medical cannabis collectives on Wednesday, but asked staff to come back with recommendations for regulations before September. The City Council opted for a ban on collectives because city staff indicated they did not have time to prepare a permanent ordinance before the city’s two-year old moratorium expires on August 30. State law prohibits local government from renewing a moratorium on any business for longer than two years.
Patients at Wednesday night’s meeting complained that the staff report supporting the ban was one sided – focusing only on law enforcement claims that collective attract crime. City staff presented reports from police officers from San Diego and San Bernardino Counties, but did not include research by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) showing that regulations reduce crime and complaints.
The City Council heard emotional testimony from local patients and providers, who vowed to keep fighting for regulations in the city. There is no word on what the city intends to do with the two collectives that survived a federal crackdown on property owners renting to collectives last year.
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Monday, May 25th, 2009
Councilmember Steve Cohn
Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Cohn told the Sacramento Bee that the City Council may vote to adopt a moratorium on new medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives as soon as June 2. “It’s not that we don’t want any marijuana dispensaries,” the Councilmember told reporter Ryan Lillis, “What it means is, we already have quite a few in the city, and we want to take a timeout and see where we’re at.” Advocates in Sacramento have expected a moratorium since the number of patients’ associations mushroomed in that city over the last year.
Lanette Davies, the Sacramento coordinator for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), and other local advocates have been talking with elected officials there about adopting sensible regulations and preventing the kind of public backlash that the proliferation of storefront collectives and cooperatives generated in other cities. Improving local regulations is an important goal of ASA’s California Campaign, and research shows that sensible guidelines reduce crime and complaints around facilities.
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