City Clerk June Lagmay determined through a sampling process that
backers of the initiative to allow and regulate a certain number of
storefront medical marijuana shops have gathered the necessary 41,138
signatures.
The measure would reduce by hundreds the number of pot shops
operating in the city, but it would allow continued operation of about
100. The City Council now may decide whether to enact the measure on its
own or put the proposal before voters.
The initiative, dubbed the "Medical Marijuana Collectives Initiative
Ordinance," would put into effect various restrictions on pot-shop
operations, including hours of operation and location. If enacted, the
measure would reduce the number of medical marijuana stores from
somewhere in the hundreds down to about 100.
Key to hitting that target is a provision that would require medical
cannabis dispensaries to prove they were operating before Sept. 14,
2007. That is when the city first tried to place a moratorium on new pot
shops.
The clerk's certification sends the initiative to the City Council
that can adopt the ordinance as is, call a special election, or place
the item on the May 21 general municipal election ballot. That election
in May will include the race for various city offices, including mayor.
The City Council is expected to make a decision on the pot shop measure
this month.
The group sponsoring the initiative is called the Committee to
Protect Patients and Neighborhoods. It is made up of the United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 770, the Greater Los Angeles Collective
Alliance, and Americans for Safe Access L.A. UFCW Local 770 President
Rick Icaza said the initiative would "guarantee safe access to medical
cannabis for those suffering from debilitating and painful diseases and
conditions, while at the same time enforcing the rule of law and
protecting neighborhoods."
"It's time to stop playing politics with people's health and the
safety of our communities," Icaza added, referring to the city's years
of attempts to regulate medical marijuana. That battle culminated in an
attempt in July to ban storefront dispensaries from Los Angeles. That
effort was reversed in October when medical marijuana supporters
gathered enough signatures to repeal the ban, leaving dispensaries
unregulated and possibly illegal. The issue has been the target of
lawsuits and conflicting court opinions.
City Councilman "Pothole" Paul Koretz has been pushing an ordinance similar to the ballot measure.
"Patients need safe access," said Freddie Metcalf, who uses medical
cannabis to treat symptoms from Sarcoidosis, a disease in which
inflammation occurs in the lymph nodes, lungs, liver, eyes, skin, or
other tissues.
Icaza urged the City Council to adopt the ordinance instead of placing it on the ballot.
Meanwhile, a group backing a separate medical marijuana initiative
last month submitted more than 73,500 petition signatures to qualify a
measure that would place similar time and place restrictions on
dispensaries, but would not limit the number to those that opened prior
to the Sept. 14, 2007 cutoff.
That initiative backed by a group called
Angelenos for Safe Access would allow any storefront medical cannabis
collectives that are at least 500 to 1,000 feet from schools, parks,
libraries, childcare centers and religious institutions and would also
impose a business tax of $60 on every $1,000 of marijuana sold at the
dispensaries.
Link to original post on KCET site.
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