This is a preview of Compassionate Use, a documentary by Eric Katz. It examines the medical cannabis ordinance passed through Los Angeles City Hall in early 2010. It is a study of local city government, business owners, voters, and patients in conflict. Allof the collective operators featured in the preview are members of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA), a voluntary association of collectives organized to develop and promote safety and operational guidelines.
How will the City of Los Angeles pay for enforcement of its new medical cannabis ordinance and the anticipated litigation? That may be a hard question for City Councilmembers to answer in the current economic climate. The city must find over $200 million before July, and next year’s budget shortfall could run as high as $484 million. KCET’s So Cal Connected reports on the financial crisis, pointing out that cuts to the City Attorney’s office may make enforcing the medical cannabis ordinance more difficult.
Councilmembers may want to rethink the new ordinance, which will close most of the city’s medical cannabis collectives. California NORML estimates that collectives generate $1 billion in annual sales, and that does not include licensing fees and jobs created. The medical needs of patients are certainly more important than economic policy. However, cash strapped cities like Los Angeles should think twice about policies that cut off revenue and jobs, while generating costly litigation.
The Los Angeles City Council will vote on an ordinance regulating medical cannabis collectives next week, and we need you to help us make it workable. There are some provisions in the draft ordinance that are simply unacceptable. If these are adopted and enforced, many of the city’s collectives will be forced to close.
Can you take a moment today to call your representative on the Los Angeles City Council and ask him or her to make the changes listed below? It does make a difference! City Councilmembers have already responded to community input by making big improvements in the draft ordinance.
You can find your City Council representative by typing your address in the “My Neighborhood” box on the city’s web site or by calling (213) 978-1020.
Don’t live in Los Angeles? No problem! May we recommend you contact City Council President Eric Garcetti at (213)-473-7013?
Tell you representative: “I support sensible regulations for medical cannabis in Los Angeles. I want you to adopt the changes recommended by advocates on Friday, November 20. Specifically, I want you to…”
(pick two or three points here that are most important to you)
• Protect patients’ rights by keeping records confidential
• Adopt buffer zones of 500 feet or less between collectives and sensitive uses
• Let collectives share an ally with residential uses
• Reject a narrow definition of a collective that requires on-site cultivation
• Allow a sufficient number of collectives to serve the growing number of patients in the city – at least two hundred
Make these calls now so that City Councilmembers know what patients need before Tuesday’s vote.
You can get more information in person at the LA-ASA meeting on Saturday!
Read about important work ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford has done to help improve the draft ordinance, including proposed litigation over the City Attorney’s ban on sales of medicine.
Tonight, I was the guest of Concerned Citizens of Laguna Woods for a community meeting to discuss medical cannabis. Laguna Woods is the only city in Orange County to adopt an ordinance regulating medical cannabis collectives. The city’s decision to authorize a storefront patients’ association is remarkable because it is the result of a grassroots movement in a city where the average resident is 78 years old.
Other panelists at tonight’s meeting included City Manager Leslie Keane, Dr. Bill Schwied, nurse and medical cannabis patient Margo Bouer, and recently retired O.C. County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray. Judge Gray is a leading spokesperson for cannabis and medical cannabis law reform. His eloquent comments drew loud applause from the crowd of almost 200 seniors.
The ordinance in Laguna Woods is an important historic development, but it is also in need of improvement. The single collective authorized may only serve residents of the city between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. The ordinance also requires the still hypothetical collective to be located 1,000 feet from a very broad range of uses, including a “youth oriented establishment” – a hopelessly subjective term that could apply to a 7-11 store, shopping mall, or pizza parlor.
Even regulations adopted for a city of only 18,000 senior citizens can have unanticipated impact on implementation in other cities and counties. Observant advocates will recognize many of the provisions of the Laguna Hills ordinance in recommendations for permanent regulations sent to the full City Council by the Los Angeles Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee this week.
Congress Questions Treasury, DOJ; Nat'l League of Cities Studies Cannabis; Updates from CA, NJ, RI, DC, CO, ME, MT, SD, AZ, OR; Recent Research on Delivery, Mental Health, Transplants, Anti-inflammation, GI, MS […]
