Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Two stories should raise an eyebrow for medical cannabis patients and advocates in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The LA Weekly ran an expose on the “wild west” medical cannabis situation in Los Angeles. The article features a “patient” diverting medicine and a very unfortunate depiction of a Hollywood collective/ministry. This article is more fuel on the fire for medical cannabis opponents. We can expect it will influence the PLUM Committee and full City Council in their deliberations regarding hundreds of hardship applications and permanent regulations. Medical cannabis collective operators and patients must be careful in what they present to the media. Not all press is good press. One individual’s fifteen minutes of fame may have serious consequences for everyone in the community.
A second story in the Daily Breeze announced Councilmember Hahn’s proposal to adopt a new city tax on medical cannabis. The Councilmember seems to be following the lead of the Oakland City Council, which recently placed a similar measure on the ballot at the urging of local cannabis collectives. The collectives hope paying extra tax will garner favor in the public eye, and some advocates think the proposal creates an incentive for jurisdictions to tax and regulate collectives instead of ban them. The verdict is still out on both counts. What is clear is that there is no consensus among collective operators or patients about the proposal. Tax-paying operators may balk at more over head, and patients have a reasonable fear that collectives will pass along the cost to the end user. Much more debate is needed before the community gets behind this proposal.
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Saturday, May 9th, 2009
City Councils all over the state are grappling with how best to regulate safe access to medical cannabis. The Oakland City Council will ask voters there to approve a measure in July that will increase the business license tax for medical cannabis dispensing collectives in that city from $1.20 to $18 per $1,000 in gross sales. The city hopes to raise badly needed revenue, and some advocates hope the increased revenue will provide an incentive for jurisdictions to regulate collectives instead of ban them. The City Council’s measure comes as the financial upside of cannabis and medical cannabis reform is making news nationwide.
The City of San Mateo, located on the San Francisco peninsula, recently adopted an ordinance regulating medical cannabis collectives. Unfortunately, that regulatory effort ran amok when Council Members responded to law enforcement pressure by banning edible preparations and the actual sale of cannabis. Both provisions are deal breakers for local advocates, who are asking the Council for amendments. Some patients can only use edibles, and state law specifically allows for sales of cannabis within a legal patients’ association.
Both Temple City (near Pasadena) and Galt (between Stockton and Sacramento) recently adopted moratoria in response to requests for permits to open new collectives. These moratoria can be an opportunity to write sensible regulations – but only if local patients and advocates let their elected representatives know that is what they want. Otherwise, lawmakers may bow to law enforcement pressure and ban collectives outright.
Patients and advocates must be active in the local debate about medical cannabis regulation. Unless there is an organized grassroots constituency, no one will be able to respond to bad provisions like those in San Mateo, or to steer temporary moratoria away from bans and towards sensible guidelines. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has tools and support for local advocates – but needs people on the ground doing the work in cities and counties all over California. Join your local ASA chapter or start one of your own to help make a difference where you live.
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