City Attorney Carmen Trutanich

Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine told a standing room only crowd at Tuesday’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee hearing that an ordinance that does not recognize sales of medical cannabis would not work for Los Angeles, but he is worried about creating a policy that violates state law. The Councilmember’s ambivalence is part of the confusion that dominated yesterday’s marathon committee meeting. The PLUM committee voted to continue the debate on the regulations, Zine’s motion for more study into relevant case law, and a progress report from the planning department for another week to allow committee members more time to review the material.

Part of what the committee is reviewing is a new draft ordinance from City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, which his office provided to the PLUM committee and the public less than one hour before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Like two previous versions prepared by his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo, the new version does not recognize legitimate sales of cannabis within the membership of a legally organized and operated medical cannabis collective. Instead, the ordinance seeks to regulate collective patient gardens – a regulatory strategy  rejected by the committee earlier this year.

The City Attorney arranged for a parade of officials to reinforce his position that sales of cannabis are illegal in all circumstances. Representatives from the Long Beach District Attorney and City Attorney’s offices inexplicably joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and Los Angeles Police Department to reinforce Trutanich’s message. Medical cannabis advocates can take a lesson from the discipline with which the City Attorney’s team kept to his talking points. In comments without time limits, every official speaker insisted that “over the counter sales” are illegal.

Dozens of advocates responded to a call by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) to speak to the committee about the new regulations. Strictly limited to one minute each, patients and advocates asked the PLUM Committee to protect the privacy of patient cultivators and make a myriad of other improvements to what advocates call “the Reyes version,” an alternative ordinance prepared by city staff in advance of today’s meeting at the request of PLUM Committee Chairman Ed Reyes. Speakers also took issue with the City Attorney’s intransigence on sales of medicine and timing in releasing his version of the ordinance.

In written comments to PLUM Committee members in advance of the meeting, I explained that state law allows for sales of cannabis inside a member-supplied collective association, and that state courts have consistently upheld these associations and transactions as legal.  This is a message ASA and allies have repeated in a private meeting with senior staff at Trutanich’s office and in a White Paper published last month.

Delay at the PLUM Committee is another impediment progress on permanent regulations for the city. That is unfortunate, because sensible regulations are exactly what the city needs to quell community concern over the unchecked proliferation of storefront collectives and recent violence associated with medical cannabis. It’s also too bad for patients. The longer these issues go unresolved, the more likely the City Council is to react to public pressure with onerous regulations.

Read the entire post on ASA’s blog, Medical Cannabis: Voices from the Frontline.

City Attorney Elect Trutanich with GLACA members

The Greater Los Angeles Caregivers Alliance (GLACA), which is working to develop and implement sensible regulations for medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives, helped call voters, walk precincts, and turn out hundreds of members to elect the two candidates. GLACA members joined City Councilmembers Zine and Hahn in Universal City on Tuesday night to celebrate Trutanich’s victory, while a delegation of medical cannabis advocates gathered in central Los Angeles to watch the neck-and-neck race with Koretz.

The election of Trutanich – and possibly Koretz – is good news for medical cannabis supporters. Paul Koretz is the former Mayor of West Hollywood and California Assemblymember who has been a long-time champion of medical cannabis rights. He is likely to replace medical cannabis opponent Jack Weiss as the representative for District 5 – which will mean one more vote for safe access on the City Council.

Carmen Trutanich defeated outgoing Los Angeles City Councilmember Jack Weiss in the race for City Attorney following a surprisingly negative campaign. Patients and advocates feared Weiss would carry on outgoing City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s policy of obstructing progress on implementing sensible medical cannabis policy in the city. Trutanich told GLACA members he would uphold the state’s laws at a neighborhood meeting before the election.

Neighborhood groups and media have been critical of the City Council and City Attorney’s office for not moving quickly enough to regulate the exploding number of patients’ associations in Los Angeles. Having another medical cannabis supporter on the City Council and a more reasonable City Attorney could be important as the city begins the work of adopting a permanent ordinance in earnest this summer.

Congratulations to GLACA, the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, and dozens of patients’ associations who helped make a difference!

This report is the latest evidence of growing frustration in Los Angeles neighborhoods. The Mid-Wilshire Neighborhood Council adopted a resolution this week asking the City Council to enforce the moratorium. They join the Melrose-Fairfax Neighborhood Watch, Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, and others community groups in speaking up about medical cannabis. Many of the principals in those organizations were featured in the report.

Bad media is bad news for patients and providers in Los Angeles. Councilmembers must adopt a permanent ordinance before the moratorium expires on September 14, and we do not want them having that debate in the context of a public outcry. This report spared collectives and cooperatives the harshest criticisms – making only passing reference to marketing aimed at young people and profiteering. We can expect more critical coverage if the public outcry grows.

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.